2001 CART season

2001 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races	21 20
Start date	March 11
End date	November 4
Awards
Drivers' champion	Gil de Ferran
Constructors' Cup	Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup	Honda
Nations' Cup	Brazil
Rookie of the Year	Scott Dixon

Bryan Herta's #77 Forsythe Reynard at Rockingham Motor Speedway in 2001

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 of the 21 originally scheduled races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 4. What would have been the third race in the season, the Firestone Firehawk 600 in Fort Worth, Texas was canceled after qualifying due to safety concerns. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran, while the Rookie of the Year was Scott Dixon.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 CART Championship Series season.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tyre	No	Drivers	Races
Team Penske	Reynard 01i	Honda	F	1	Gil de Ferran	All
				3	Hélio Castroneves	All
Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B1/00	Toyota	F	4	Bruno Junqueira	All
				12	Nicolas Minassian	1-7
					Memo Gidley	8-21
Walker Motorsport	Reynard 01i	Toyota	F	5	Toranosuke Takagi	All
Newman-Haas Racing	Lola B1/00	Toyota	F	6	Cristiano da Matta	All
				11	Christian Fittipaldi	All
Team Rahal	Lola B1/00	Ford Cosworth	F	7	Max Papis	All
				8	Kenny Bräck	All
Bettenhausen Racing	Lola B1/00	Ford Cosworth	F	16	Michel Jourdain, Jr.	All
PacWest Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota	F	17	Maurício Gugelmin	All
				18	Scott Dixon	All
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ford Cosworth	F	19	Michael Krumm	1-2
				21	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	1-2
Patrick Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota	F	19	Townsend Bell	16-17
				20	Roberto Moreno	All
				40	Jimmy Vasser	All
Sigma Autosport	Lola B1/00	Ford Cosworth	F	22	Oriol Servià	All
Arciero-Blair Racing	Lola B2K/00	Phoenix	F	25	Max Wilson	1-4
		Ford Cosworth				6-10, 13-19
					Alex Barron	20-21
Team Green	Reynard 01i	Honda	F	26	Paul Tracy	All
				27	Dario Franchitti	All
Forsythe Racing	Reynard 01i	Ford Cosworth	F	32	Patrick Carpentier	All
				33	Alex Tagliani	All
				77	Bryan Herta	All
Team Motorola	Reynard 01i	Honda	F	39	Michael Andretti	All
Fernández Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda	F	51	Adrián Fernández	All
				52	Shinji Nakano	All
Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda	F	55	Tony Kanaan	All
				66	Alex Zanardi	1-16
					Casey Mears	18-21

Races

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Date
1	Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix Presented by Herdez	Fundidora Park (S)	Monterrey, Mexico	March 11
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Streets of Long Beach (S)	Long Beach, California	April 8
3	Firestone Firehawk 600 Presented by Pioneer	Texas Motor Speedway (O)	Fort Worth, Texas	April 29
4	Lehigh Valley Grand Prix Presented by Toyota	Nazareth Speedway (O)	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	May 6
5	Firestone Firehawk 500	Twin Ring Motegi (O)	Motegi, Japan	May 19
6	Miller Lite 225	Milwaukee Mile (O)	West Allis, Wisconsin	June 3
7	Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit	The Raceway on Belle Isle Park (S)	Detroit, Michigan	June 17
8	Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco	Portland International Raceway (R)	Portland, Oregon	June 24
9	Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar	Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (S)	Cleveland, Ohio	July 1
10	Molson Indy Toronto	Exhibition Place (S)	Toronto, Ontario	July 15
11	Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota	Michigan International Speedway (O)	Brooklyn, Michigan	July 22
12	Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer	Chicago Motor Speedway (O)	Cicero, Illinois	July 29
13	Miller Lite 200	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (R)	Lexington, Ohio	August 12
14	Motorola 220	Road America (R)	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 19
15	Molson Indy Vancouver	Streets of Vancouver (S)	Vancouver, British Columbia	September 2
16	The American Memorial	EuroSpeedway Lausitz (O)	Klettwitz, Germany	September 15
17	Rockingham 500	Rockingham Motor Speedway (O)	Corby, United Kingdom	September 22
18	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston	Streets of Houston (S)	Houston, Texas	October 7
19	Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring The Shell 300	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (R)	Monterey, California	October 14
20	Honda Indy 300	Surfers Paradise Street Circuit (S)	Surfers Paradise, Australia	October 28
21	Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota	California Speedway (O)	Fontana, California	November 4

(R) Dedicated road course, (O) Oval/Speedway, (S) Temporary street circuit

• The original calendar called for 22 races on five continents, by far the most ambitious calendar CART had ever attempted. With the race at Texas being canceled and the Rio 200 being dropped, the 2001 season ultimately had the same number of races as the previous year.
• For the first time, CART would race in the United Kingdom and Germany and also return to Mexico for the first time in almost twenty years.
• The original calendar released on August 5, 2000 had the first round of the season at Jacarepaguá in Brazil, but disagreements with the track owners several months later led to the event being dropped.
• The events at Homestead-Miami and Gateway were dropped after negotiations with the tracks owners failed; rival series Indy Racing League secured the contracts instead, and both tracks were featured in the 2001 Indy Racing League season.
• The removal of Gateway from the calendar meant that Memorial Day weekend would be empty, allowing several teams and drivers the opportunity to compete at the Indianapolis 500.

Season Summary

Race Results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey	Kenny Bräck	Dario Franchitti	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
3	Firestone Firehawk 600	Kenny Bräck	Race cancelled	Race cancelled	Race cancelled	Report
4	Lehigh Valley Grand Prix	Bruno Junqueira	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	PacWest Racing	Report
5	Firestone Firehawk 500	Hélio Castroneves	Alex Zanardi	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
6	Miller Lite 225	Kenny Bräck	Dario Franchitti	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
7	Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit	Hélio Castroneves	Michael Andretti	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
8	Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200	Max Papis	Max Papis	Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
9	Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland	Maurício Gugelmin	Roberto Moreno	Dario Franchitti	Team Green	Report
10	Molson Indy Toronto	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	Report
11	Harrah's 500	Kenny Bräck	Patrick Carpentier	Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	Report
12	Target Grand Prix of Chicago	Tony Kanaan	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
13	Miller Lite 200	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
14	Motorola 220	Kenny Bräck	Bruno Junqueira	Bruno Junqueira	Chip Ganassi Racing	Report
15	Molson Indy Vancouver	Alex Tagliani	Hélio Castroneves	Roberto Moreno	Patrick Racing	Report
16	The American Memorial	Gil de Ferran	Tony Kanaan	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
17	Rockingham 500	Kenny Bräck	Patrick Carpentier	Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
18	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston	Gil de Ferran	Jimmy Vasser	Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
19	Honda Grand Prix of Monterey	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
20	Honda Indy 300	Roberto Moreno	Jimmy Vasser	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
21	Marlboro 500	Alex Tagliani	Max Papis	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MTY LBH NAZ MOT MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR FON Pts 1 Gil de Ferran 2 3 23 13 7 6 13 4 14* 24 3 2 5 2 8 1* 1* 3* 4 6 199 2 Kenny Bräck 1 5 25 2* 1 1* 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1* 2 7 25 5 26 163 3 Michael Andretti 4 28 6 23 2 4 8 15 1 19 24 26 2 3 4 5 21 14 2 7 147 4 Hélio Castroneves 8 1* 11 2* 26 1* 17 12 19 8 7* 1* 7* 18 12 4 5 6 20 22 141 5 Cristiano da Matta 1* 2 10 25 25 7 10 7 15 4 19 10 6 20 26 3 6 20 1 1 140 6 Max Papis 12 17 24 6 8 11 1* 18 8 16* 13 24 16 22 2 11 9 1 9 2* 107 7 Dario Franchitti 9 6 8 17 9 2 6 1 24 2 15 16 19 9 25 9 2 19 23 23 105 8 Scott Dixon (RY) 13 19 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98 9 Tony Kanaan 7 7 16 3 6 Wth 24 16 10 21 8 5 12 4 7 8 12 8 17 5 93 10 Patrick Carpentier 25 23 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 10 91 11 Alex Tagliani 21 18 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 3 80 12 Jimmy Vasser 6 5 4 5 21 18 16 5 26 23 14 23 21 19 15 7 11 5 6 12 77 13 Roberto Moreno 27 11 12 10 15 3 2 8 11 12 20 6 11 1 23 13 22 22 22* 19 76 14 Paul Tracy 3 4 3 18 24 14 21 24 6 7 12 4 26 26 10 6 24 18 14 24 73 15 Christian Fittipaldi 20 24 5 4 18 5 3 11 12 18 25 8 18 11 19 24 8 9 8 13 70 16 Bruno Junqueira (R) 22 9 7 24 4 19 23 23 13 9 17 13 1 12 11 25 23 7 21 4 68 17 Memo Gidley 25 2* 17 14 5 11 20 10 14 18 3 2 10 14 65 18 Adrián Fernández 19 16 19 16 5 12 19 21 3 25 10 22 3 21 24 23 14 10 19 18 45 19 Oriol Servià 14 14 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42 20 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 17 13 13 11 13 25 15 25 16 3 23 17 17 6 17 19 25 23 7 16 30 21 Toranosuke Takagi (R) 10 20 14 20 202 20 18 14 223 13 11 21 22 7 6 26 4 13 16 15 29 22 Bryan Herta 16 10 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 25 28 23 Alex Zanardi 24 26 20 7 11 24 26 13 4 20 9 19 13 24 204 24 24 Maurício Gugelmin 15 22 12 10 10 20 10 7 15 22 14 23 15 16 20 20 16 24 20 17 25 Max Wilson (R) 28 21 17 23 23 4 19 25 15 25 25 18 21 16 24 12 26 Shinji Nakano 18 12 15 8 16 13 22 22 9 22 16 18 15 14 22 17 15 21 12 21 11 27 Nicolas Minassian (R) 11 8 18 15 19 17 7 28 Casey Mears (R) 17 11 26 8 7 29 Alex Barron 13 9 4 30 Townsend Bell (R) 13 12 1 31 Michael Krumm (R) 23 15 0 32 Luiz Garcia, Jr. 26 27 0 Pos Driver MTY LBH NAZ MOT MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR FON Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th-6th place Light Blue 7th-12th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 12) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (RY): Rookie of the Year (R): Rookie

Notes:

• ¹ Kenny Bräck also awarded 1 point for his pole position in Fort Worth. The race was canceled after qualifying due to excessively high speeds.
• ² Toranosuke Takagi was excluded from the race on Lap 134 for taking out Jimmy Vasser as he was being lapped.
• ³ Toranosuke Takagi was penalized 2 points for rough driving in Toronto.
• ⁴ Alex Zanardi's car was impacted from the side by Alex Tagliani's car at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. He lost both of his lower legs in the impact. This signaled the end of his open-wheel racing career.

Nation's Cup

• Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.

Pos	Country	MTY	LBH	NAZ	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU	LAG	SUR	FON	Pts
1	Brazil	1	1	5	2	4	1	2	4	7	5	3	1	1	1	7	1	1	3	1	1	341
2	United States	4	5	4	5	2	4	8	2	1	4	5	11	2	3	4	5	3	2	2	7	240
3	Canada	3	4	3	18	12	8	5	9	2	1	2	3	8	16	3	6	10	15	3	3	187
4	Sweden	5	25	2	1	1	9	11	6	20	17	1	20	14	8	1	2	7	25	5	26	163
5	Italy	12	17	20	6	8	11	1	18	4	16	9	19	13	22	2	11	9	1	9	2	118
6	United Kingdom	9	6	8	17	9	2	6	1	24	2	15	16	19	9	25	9	2	19	23	23	105
7	New Zealand	13	19	1	9	3	22	7	20	5	10	4	12	4	13	9	22	18	4	15	17	98
8	Mexico	17	13	9	11	5	12	15	21	3	3	10	17	3	6	17	19	14	10	7	16	75
9	Japan	10	12	14	8	16	13	18	14	9	13	11	18	15	7	6	17	4	13	12	15	42
10	Spain	14	14	9	14	14	16	9	17	23	11	18	9	10	5	5	10	26	17	25	11	42
11	France	11	8	18	15	19	17															7
12	Germany	23	15																			0
Pos	Country	MTY	LBH	NAZ	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU	LAG	SUR	FON	Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Reynard	378
2	Lola	335
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Honda	342
2	Toyota	309
3	Ford-Cosworth	297
4	Phoenix	0
Pos	Engine	Pts

References

• Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2001". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "2001 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 
• "CART Postpones Firestone Firehawk 600 Presented by Pioneer Due to Unprecedented Physical Demands on Drivers" (Press release). CART / PR Newswire. 2001-04-30. 
• "Standings after Fontana". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19. 

See also

• 2001 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• 2001 Indianapolis 500
• 2001 Indy Racing League season
• 2001 Indy Lights season