2003 German 500

  2003 German 500

Race details
Race 5 of 18 in the 2003 CART season
Date	May 11, 2003
Official name	German 500
Location	EuroSpeedway Lausitz Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany
Course	2 Mile Banked Oval 2.023 mi / 3.256 km
Distance	154 laps, 311.542 mi / 501.424 km
Weather	Mostly Cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing
Time	37.000
Fastest lap
Driver	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Team Rahal
Time	36.721 (on lap 133 of 154)
Podium
First	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing
Second	Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition
Third	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Team Rahal

The 2003 German 500 was the fifth round of the 2003 CART World Series season, held on May 11, 2003 on the oval track at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany. The race also featured the return of Alex Zanardi to a Champ Car racing cockpit, about a year and a half after he lost both his legs in a nearly fatal crash at the 2001 CART race at the track.

Qualifying results

Pos	Nat	Name	Team	Time
1		Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing	37.000
2		Bruno Junqueira	Newman/Haas Racing	37.211
3		Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Team Rahal	37.274
4		Mario Haberfeld	Mi-Jack Conquest Racing	37.392
5		Darren Manning	Walker Racing	37.532
6		Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	37.690
7		Oriol Servià	Patrick Racing	37.702
8		Rodolfo Lavín	Walker Racing	37.717
9		Alex Tagliani	Rocketsports Racing	37.732
10		Patrick Lemarié	PK Racing	37.806
11		Jimmy Vasser	American Spirit Team Johansson	37.911
12		Roberto Moreno	Herdez Competition	38.057
13		Alex Yoong	Dale Coyne Racing	38.152
14		Tiago Monteiro	Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing	38.196
15		Ryan Hunter-Reay	American Spirit Team Johansson	38.220
16		Paul Tracy	Team Player's	38.244
17		Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	38.286
18		Joël Camathias	Dale Coyne Racing	38.558
19		Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	38.666

Alex Zanardi's 13 Laps

With 13 laps remaining in the 2001 American Memorial CART race at EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Alex Zanardi spun on the warm up lane after a pit stop. His car spun directly into the path of the car driven by Alex Tagliani. The t-bone accident immediately amputated Zanardi's legs above his knees. Quick work by the medical team saved his life and by 2002 he was walking on artificial legs of his own design.

For this event a 2002 Reynard Champ Car was modified to include hand controls by Mi-Jack Conquest Racing with assistance from Walker Racing, painted in the same color scheme as the car Zanardi drove in the 2001 season. Prior to the start of the race, Zanardi took to the track and completed the 13 laps to symbolically finish the 2001 race. His fastest lap was clocked at 37.487 seconds which would have put him 5th on the grid for the 2003 race.

Zanardi would go on to return to competitive auto racing in 2004, driving a BMW in the European Touring Car Championship (which would be redubbed the World Touring Car Championship in 2005). On August 28, 2005 he won his first race since the accident at the Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	2	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing	154	1:49:22.498	1	22
2	55	Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	154	+0.084 secs	6	16
3	9	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	Team Rahal	154	+0.245 secs	3	14
4	1	Bruno Junqueira	Newman/Haas Racing	154	+12.042 secs	2	12
5	20	Oriol Servià	Patrick Racing	154	+12.055 secs	7	10
6	15	Darren Manning	Walker Racing	154	+24.602 secs	5	8
7	32	Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	153	+ 1 Lap	17	6
8	12	Jimmy Vasser	American Spirit Team Johansson	153	+ 1 Lap	11	5
9	5	Rodolfo Lavín	Walker Racing	153	+ 1 Lap	8	4
10	4	Roberto Moreno	Herdez Competition	153	+ 1 Lap	12	3
11	31	Ryan Hunter-Reay	American Spirit Team Johansson	152	+ 2 Laps	15	2
12	3	Paul Tracy	Team Player's	152	+ 2 Laps	16	1
13	7	Tiago Monteiro	Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing	152	+ 2 Laps	14	0
14	34	Mario Haberfeld	Mi-Jack Conquest Racing	152	+ 2 Laps	4	0
15	51	Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	152	+ 2 Laps	19	0
16	19	Joël Camathias	Dale Coyne Racing	152	+ 2 Laps	18	0
17	11	Alex Yoong	Dale Coyne Racing	81	Mechanical	13	0
18	33	Alex Tagliani	Rocketsports Racing	28	Mechanical	9	0
19	27	Patrick Lemarié	PK Racing	25	Contact	10	0

Caution flags

Notes

• New Track Record Sébastien Bourdais 37.000 (Qualifying)
• New Race Record Sébastien Bourdais 1:49:22.498
• Average Speed 170.903 mph

External links

• Zanardi completes the 2001 Lausitz race
• Full Weekend Times & Results