2001 CART season

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-third in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 20 of the 22 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.

2001 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races	20 (22 planned)
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
← 2000 2002 →

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

Off the track, the 2001 season was an unmitigated disaster for CART under the leadership of Joseph Heitzler. It included two race cancellations; a disastrous European tour that coincided with the September 11 attacks and witnessed a severe accident to former series champion Alex Zanardi in which he lost both of his legs; infighting amongst engine manufacturers that saw litigation and the announced future departure of Honda and Toyota; the loss of the series' television contract with ABC/ESPN; the departure of longtime tracks Michigan International Speedway and Nazareth Speedway; the loss of Firestone as the series' tire supplier and its replacement by parent company Bridgestone; and the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League (IRL) at the conclusion of the season.

Team Penske and Team Motorola joined Chip Ganassi Racing in having concurrent IRL teams to run in the 2001 Indianapolis 500, with Penske's Helio Castroneves winning the race. In an unusual move, CART "sanctioned" the participation of teams in the race; this was an attempt to allow Penske's primary sponsor, Marlboro, to appear on cars in the 500, as they were prohibited from being in more than one racing series by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. This legal maneuver was not successful, and Penske's cars ran without advertising. DaimlerChrysler shut down their CART program as an engine manufacturer via Mercedes-Benz brand as the company decided to move to NASCAR Winston Cup Series via the Dodge brand in the same year.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 CART Championship Series season. All cars ran on Firestone Tires.^[1][2]

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Races	Primary Sponsors
Team Penske	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	1	Gil de Ferran	All	Marlboro 19 Penske Racing 2
			3	Hélio Castroneves	All
Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8E	4	Bruno Junqueira  R	All	Target
			12	Nicolas Minassian  R	1–7
				Memo Gidley	8–21
Walker Motorsport	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	5	Toranosuke Takagi  R	All	Pioneer 20 Walker Racing 1
Newman-Haas Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8E	6	Cristiano da Matta	All	Texaco-Havoline
			11	Christian Fittipaldi	All	Kmart
Team Rahal	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	7	Max Papis	All	Miller Lite 17 Miller Genuine Draft 4
			8	Kenny Bräck	All	Shell
Bettenhausen Racing	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	16	Michel Jourdain Jr.	All	Herdez
PacWest Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	17	Maurício Gugelmin	All	Nextel
			18	Scott Dixon  R	All	Powerware 19 Nextel 2
Patrick Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	19	Townsend Bell	16–17	Visteon
			20	Roberto Moreno	All
			40	Jimmy Vasser	All	OXXO 1 Patrick Racing 4 Visteon 15
Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	19	Michael Krumm	1–2	The Dark Dog
			21	Luiz Garcia Jr.	1–2	Embratel
Sigma Autosport	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	22	Oriol Servià	All	Sigma Autosport
Arciero-Blair Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ilmor	25	Max Wilson  R	1–4	winnerB2B.com 9 Driving 101 10
		Ford-Cosworth XF			6–10, 13–19
				Alex Barron	20–21
Team Green	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	26	Paul Tracy	All	KOOL 19 Team Green 2
			27	Dario Franchitti	All
Forsythe Racing	Reynard 01i	Ford-Cosworth XF	32	Patrick Carpentier	All	Player's 19 Racing Since 1961 2
			33	Alex Tagliani	All
			77	Bryan Herta	All	Indeck
Team Motorola	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	39	Michael Andretti	All	Motorola
Fernández Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	51	Adrián Fernández	All	Tecate
			52	Shinji Nakano	All	Avex
Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	55	Tony Kanaan	All	Hollywood Cigarettes 19 No Limits 2
			66	Alex Zanardi	1–16	Pioneer 19 Mo Nunn Racing 1
				Casey Mears  R	18–21

R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Season summary

Schedule

Rnd	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location	Date
1	Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Presented by Herdez	R  Fundidora Park	Monterrey, Mexico	March 11
–	Rio 200 (Cancelled)	O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	March 25
2	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	R  Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California	April 8
–	Firestone Firehawk 600 Presented by Pioneer (Cancelled)	O  Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	April 29
3	Lehigh Valley Grand Prix Presented by Toyota	O  Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	May 6
4	Firestone Firehawk 500	O  Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan	May 19
NC*	85th Indianapolis 500	O  Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	May 27
5	Miller Lite 225	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	June 3
6	Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit	R  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan	June 17
7	Freightliner/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	June 24
8	Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar	R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio	July 1
9	Molson Indy Toronto	R  Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario	July 15
10	Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	July 22
11	Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer	O  Chicago Motor Speedway	Cicero, Illinois	July 29
12	Miller Lite 200	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	August 12
13	Motorola 220	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 19
14	Molson Indy Vancouver	R  Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	September 2
15	The American Memorial	O  EuroSpeedway Lausitz	Klettwitz, Germany	September 15
16	Rockingham 500	O  Rockingham Motor Speedway	Corby, United Kingdom	September 22
17	Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston	R  George R. Brown Convention Center	Houston, Texas	October 7
18	Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300	R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	October 14
19	Honda Indy 300	R  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia	October 28
20	Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota	O  California Speedway	Fontana, California	November 4

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

• 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 owners of the track; 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.
• The 2001 season was the final time Michigan Speedway appeared on the calendar.
• The Indianapolis 500 was an Indy Racing League event that was also sanctioned by CART but awarded no points towards the CART Championship.

Race results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Fastest lap	Lead most laps	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Monterrey	Kenny Bräck	Dario Franchitti	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
2	Long Beach	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
3	Texas	Kenny Bräck	Race cancelled				Report
4	Nazareth	Bruno Junqueira  R	Tony Kanaan	Kenny Bräck	Scott Dixon  R	PacWest Racing	Report
5	Motegi	Hélio Castroneves	Alex Zanardi	Hélio Castroneves	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
NC	Indy	Scott Sharp	Sam Hornish Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
6	Milwaukee	Kenny Bräck	Dario Franchitti	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
7	Belle Isle	Hélio Castroneves	Michael Andretti	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
8	Portland	Max Papis	Max Papis	Max Papis	Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
9	Cleveland	Maurício Gugelmin	Roberto Moreno	Memo Gidley	Dario Franchitti	Team Green	Report
10	Toronto	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Gil de Ferran	Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	Report
11	Michigan	Kenny Bräck	Patrick Carpentier	Max Papis	Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	Report
12	Chicago	Tony Kanaan	Kenny Bräck	Hélio Castroneves	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
13	Mid-Ohio	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
14	Road America	Kenny Bräck	Bruno Junqueira  R	Hélio Castroneves	Bruno Junqueira  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Report
15	Vancouver	Alex Tagliani	Hélio Castroneves	Alex Tagliani	Roberto Moreno	Patrick Racing	Report
16	EuroSpeedway	Gil de Ferran	Tony Kanaan	Kenny Bräck	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
17	Rockingham	Kenny Bräck	Patrick Carpentier	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
18	Houston	Gil de Ferran	Jimmy Vasser	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
19	Laguna Seca	Gil de Ferran	Hélio Castroneves	Gil de Ferran	Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
20	Surfers Paradise	Roberto Moreno	Jimmy Vasser	Roberto Moreno	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
21	Fontana	Alex Tagliani	Max Papis	Max Papis	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report

Final driver standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos Driver MTY LBH TXS 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 C 23 13 7 6 13 4 14* 24 3 2 5 2 8 1* 1* 3* 4 6 199 2 Kenny Bräck1 5 25 C 2* 1 1* 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1* 2 7 25 5 26 163 3 Michael Andretti 4 28 C 6 23 2 4 8 15 1 19 24 26 2 3 4 5 21 14 2 7 147 4 Hélio Castroneves 8 1* C 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 C 10 25 25 7 10 7 15 4 19 10 6 20 26 3 6 20 1 1 140 6 Max Papis 12 17 C 24 6 8 11 1* 18 8 16* 13 24 16 22 2 11 9 1 9 2* 107 7 Dario Franchitti 9 6 C 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 C 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98 9 Tony Kanaan 7 7 C 16 3 6 DNS 24 16 10 21 8 5 12 4 7 8 12 8 17 5 93 10 Patrick Carpentier 25 23 C 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 10 91 11 Alex Tagliani 21 18 C 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 3 80 12 Jimmy Vasser 6 5 C 4 5 21 18 16 5 26 23 14 23 21 19 15 7 11 5 6 12 77 13 Roberto Moreno 27 11 C 12 10 15 3 2 8 11 12 20 6 11 1 23 13 22 22 22* 19 76 14 Paul Tracy 3 4 C 3 18 24 14 21 24 6 7 12 4 26 26 10 6 24 18 14 24 73 15 Christian Fittipaldi 20 24 C 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 C 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 C 19 16 5 12 19 21 3 25 10 22 3 21 24 23 14 10 19 18 45 19 Oriol Servià 14 14 C 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 C 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 C 14 20 DSQ 20 18 14 222 13 11 21 22 7 6 26 4 13 16 15 29 22 Bryan Herta 16 10 C 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 25 28 23 Alex Zanardi 24 26 C 20 7 11 24 26 13 4 20 9 19 13 24 203 24 24 Maurício Gugelmin 15 22 Wth 12 10 10 20 10 7 15 22 14 23 15 16 20 20 16 24 20 17 25 Max Wilson  R  28 21 C 17 23 23 4 19 25 Wth 15 25 25 18 21 16 24 12 26 Shinji Nakano 18 12 C 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 C 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 TXS 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

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 penalized 2 points for rough driving in Toronto.
3. ^ 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.

Nations' Cup

• Top result per race counts towards Nations' 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 Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Reynard 01i	378
2	Lola B1/00 & B2K/00	335
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

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

References

1. "Honda Championship Auto Racing Highlights". April 2002.
2. "2002 Toyota RV8F CART engine".

• Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2001". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2008-12-31. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
• "2001 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. 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 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

See also

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