2001 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey
Encyclopedia
The 2001 Honda
Grand Prix of Monterey was a CART
motor race held on October 14, 2001 at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
in California, United States. It was the 19th round of the 2001 CART season.
ian driver Gil de Ferran
set the pole, fellow Brazilian and his teammate Helio Castroneves
, from Penske Racing
, started alongside him at the first row.
driver Michael Andretti
, from Team Motorola had a contact with the Swedish driver Kenny Brack
, from Team Rahal. Some metres later, Brack collided with the Brazilian driver Mauricio Gugelmin
, from PacWest Racing
, and suffered a tire problem. Some laps later, five laps behind, Kenny would retire.
At lap 2, the first caution came out as the Forsythe Racing Canadian drivers Alex Tagliani
and Patrick Carpentier
collided into each other. Patrick retired. The top 5 after 3 laps was: Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, New Zealand
driver Scott Dixon
, from PacWest Racing
, the Brazilian Tony Kanaan
, from Mo Nunn Racing, and Canadian driver Paul Tracy
from Team Green.
Then, at lap 7, the Chip Ganassi Racing
pit was on fire. Two mechanics suffered slight burns, but they continued in the race. The restart came at lap 8. The 2nd caution happened at lap 11, as the American Forsythe Racing driver Bryan Herta
spun his countryman Casey Mears
from Mo Nunn Racing. The Brazilian driver Max Wilson
from Arciero Racing was also involved. Wilson retired.
The restart came out at lap 15. The 3rd caution happened at lap 18, as the Brazilian Roberto Moreno
, from Patrick Racing
, had hit the wall. Then, the Bettenhausen Racing driver Michel Jourdain, Jr.
, from Mexico
, also hit the wall. Both retired.
The restart came out at lap 24. Then, the former Formula One
Japanese
driver Shinji Nakano
, from Fernández Racing
retired due to mechanical problems, at lap 43. The fourth caution was out.
After 43 laps, this was the top 6: Castroneves, Dixon, de Ferran, Tora Takagi, Christian Fittipaldi
and Tracy. After 44 laps, de Ferran led most laps at that time: 36. The restart came out at lap 46. Two laps later, Tagliani overtook the Scottish
driver Dario Franchitti
, from Team Green at The Corkscrew. Tagliani pushed Franchitti too much in the gravel, but Franchitti was still in the race.
At lap 49, Chip Ganassi Racing
driver Memo Gidley
, from United States
hit Michael Andretti, causing a fifth caution. The top 6 after some pit stops were Adrian Fernandez
, Max Papis
, Memo Gidley -- these drivers didn't make their pit stops -- and de Ferran, Dixon and Jimmy Vasser
.
During the pit exit, Castroneves hit Paul Tracy. The Canadian spun. The restart came out at lap 53. At this lap, Franchitti hit the Brazilian Newman-Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta
at Turn 2. 6th caution. Da Matta retired. Paul Tracy went to the pits just to do a burnout in Castroneves' pit.
The restart came out at lap 57. At lap 62, Fernandez pitted and lost his lead to Max Papis. Then, the 7th caution happened, as Dario Franchitti suffered brake problems and hit the wall. At the same moment, Paul Tracy had a suspension problem, due the incident with Castroneves at the pits.
The restart came out at lap 65. At lap 66, Sigma Autosport Spaniard Oriol Servià
went airborne, after hit Mauricio Gugelmin from behind. Both drivers retired. Servia's car did a frontflip. Servià suffered slight neck pains, but he was ok. The restart came out at lap 68 with 5:50 minutes to go. Max Papis won the race. It was the third win in CART
for the Italian
. It was the sixth Team Rahal win in that season. Memo Gidley finished second, with Gil de Ferran third.
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...
Grand Prix of Monterey was a CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
motor race held on October 14, 2001 at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA....
in California, United States. It was the 19th round of the 2001 CART season.
Qualifying
BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian driver Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran , is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500.Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, de Ferran began his career in kart racing...
set the pole, fellow Brazilian and his teammate Helio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves
Hélio Castroneves is a Brazilian auto racing driver currently competing in the North American IndyCar Series. In IndyCar competition, Castroneves has 14 wins and 28 poles, and has never placed lower than sixth in the standings in a complete season of racing...
, from Penske Racing
Penske Racing
Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
, started alongside him at the first row.
Race
At the start, the AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
driver Michael Andretti
Michael Andretti
Michael Mario Andretti is a retired American CART and Formula One driver and owner of the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Series. Andretti is the son of Mario Andretti. His son is Marco Andretti.-Early career:...
, from Team Motorola had a contact with the Swedish driver Kenny Brack
Kenny Bräck
Kenny Bräck is a race car driver from Sweden. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He is the winner of the 1999 Indianapolis 500 and the 1998 driving champion of the Indy Racing League. He survived one of the racing sport's biggest...
, from Team Rahal. Some metres later, Brack collided with the Brazilian driver Mauricio Gugelmin
Mauricio Gugelmin
Maurício Gugelmin is a former racing driver from Brazil. He took part in both Formula One and the Champ Car World Series. He participated in 80 Formula One grands prix, debuting in 1988 for the March team. He achieved one top-three finish and scored a total of ten championship points in the series...
, from PacWest Racing
PacWest Racing
PacWest Racing was a Champ Car racing team owned by Bruce McCaw founded in 1993. The team's first full time season was the next year, 1994, with drivers Dominic Dobson and future Indy Racing League co-champion Scott Sharp...
, and suffered a tire problem. Some laps later, five laps behind, Kenny would retire.
At lap 2, the first caution came out as the Forsythe Racing Canadian drivers Alex Tagliani
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani is a Canadian auto racing driver from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series, driving the #77 entry for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.-Champ Car career:...
and Patrick Carpentier
Patrick Carpentier
Patrick Carpentier is a retired Canadian race car driver. He is best known for his career in the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. In 2009, Patrick shared the #36 of Tommy Baldwin Racing with Mike Skinner and ran Michael Waltrip's #55 Toyota Camry in the road course races in the...
collided into each other. Patrick retired. The top 5 after 3 laps was: Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
driver Scott Dixon
Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon, MNZM is a New Zealand motor racer who became the most successful all-time driver in the Indy Racing League championship in the United States when he won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in August 2009. This took his total to 21 wins...
, from PacWest Racing
PacWest Racing
PacWest Racing was a Champ Car racing team owned by Bruce McCaw founded in 1993. The team's first full time season was the next year, 1994, with drivers Dominic Dobson and future Indy Racing League co-champion Scott Sharp...
, the Brazilian Tony Kanaan
Tony Kanaan
Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho, commonly known as Tony Kanaan is a Brazilian race car driver of Lebanese heritage. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series championship driving Andretti Green Racing's 7-Eleven sponsored car, winning three times in his Honda-powered Dallara...
, from Mo Nunn Racing, and Canadian driver Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy is a professional automobile racer who has competed in CART, the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series...
from Team Green.
Then, at lap 7, the Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...
pit was on fire. Two mechanics suffered slight burns, but they continued in the race. The restart came at lap 8. The 2nd caution happened at lap 11, as the American Forsythe Racing driver Bryan Herta
Bryan Herta
Bryan John Herta is an American race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the Firestone Indy Lights Series...
spun his countryman Casey Mears
Casey Mears
Casey James Mears is the driver of the #13 GEICO Toyota for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. He is a former winner of the Coca-Cola 600....
from Mo Nunn Racing. The Brazilian driver Max Wilson
Max Wilson
Max Wilson, , is a racing driver of Brazilian parentage.He started his motor racing career in 1985 in go-karts...
from Arciero Racing was also involved. Wilson retired.
The restart came out at lap 15. The 3rd caution happened at lap 18, as the Brazilian Roberto Moreno
Roberto Moreno
Roberto Pupo Moreno , usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship points. He raced in CART in 1986, and was Formula 3000 champion before joining...
, from Patrick Racing
Patrick Racing
Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in both Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick with the formation of CART in 1978. Patrick Racing would win three Indianapolis 500s and two CART championships, making it one of the most successful CART teams ever.In...
, had hit the wall. Then, the Bettenhausen Racing driver Michel Jourdain, Jr.
Michel Jourdain, Jr.
Michel Jourdain Jr. is an IndyCar driver. Jourdain Jr. started racing cars in the Mexican Formula Junior series at the age of 12. He then moved to the Mexican Formula K and Formula 2 series.-Champ Car:...
, from Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, also hit the wall. Both retired.
The restart came out at lap 24. Then, the former Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
driver Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano
Shinji Nakano is a racing driver from Japan.His father, Tsuneharu was also a racing driver who competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship etc.-Pre Formula One Career:-Formula One Career:...
, from Fernández Racing
Fernández Racing
Fernández Racing is a Mexican motor racing team that competes in the American Le Mans Series and previously Champ Car, the IRL IndyCar Series, and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The team was co-founded by Adrian Fernández and Tom Anderson in 2001.-Open wheel:...
retired due to mechanical problems, at lap 43. The fourth caution was out.
After 43 laps, this was the top 6: Castroneves, Dixon, de Ferran, Tora Takagi, Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi
Christian Fittipaldi is a Brazilian racing driver who has competed in various forms of motorsport including Formula One, Champ Car and NASCAR...
and Tracy. After 44 laps, de Ferran led most laps at that time: 36. The restart came out at lap 46. Two laps later, Tagliani overtook the Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
driver Dario Franchitti
Dario Franchitti
George Dario Marino Franchitti is a Scottish racing driver. He formerly competed in the CART series before switching to the IndyCar Series where he was 2007 champion, and won the rain-shortened 2007 Indianapolis 500. Franchitti is also a former NASCAR driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, competing...
, from Team Green at The Corkscrew. Tagliani pushed Franchitti too much in the gravel, but Franchitti was still in the race.
At lap 49, Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates is an automotive racing organization with teams competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. It is owned by businessmen Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates. They have won 4 Champ Car, 3 Indy Racing League and 1 Grand-Am championships...
driver Memo Gidley
Memo Gidley
José Guillermo "Memo" Gidley is a Mexican-American racing driver, of German and Canadian ancestry, born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico in 1973. He holds dual citizenship - American and Mexican....
, from United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
hit Michael Andretti, causing a fifth caution. The top 6 after some pit stops were Adrian Fernandez
Adrian Fernández
José Adrián Fernández Mier is a Mexican racing driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team.-Early career:...
, Max Papis
Max Papis
Massimiliano "Max" Papis is a racing driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. His son's godfather is fellow Italian Alex Zanardi...
, Memo Gidley -- these drivers didn't make their pit stops -- and de Ferran, Dixon and Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser
Jimmy Vasser is a retired American racing driver and current co-owner of KV Racing Technology. Vasser won the 1996 IndyCar season championship with Chip Ganassi Racing, and scored ten victories in the series...
.
During the pit exit, Castroneves hit Paul Tracy. The Canadian spun. The restart came out at lap 53. At this lap, Franchitti hit the Brazilian Newman-Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta is an auto racing driver, winner of the American CART Championship in 2002, and former Formula One driver with the Toyota team.-Origins and early career:...
at Turn 2. 6th caution. Da Matta retired. Paul Tracy went to the pits just to do a burnout in Castroneves' pit.
The restart came out at lap 57. At lap 62, Fernandez pitted and lost his lead to Max Papis. Then, the 7th caution happened, as Dario Franchitti suffered brake problems and hit the wall. At the same moment, Paul Tracy had a suspension problem, due the incident with Castroneves at the pits.
The restart came out at lap 65. At lap 66, Sigma Autosport Spaniard Oriol Servià
Oriol Servia
Oriol Servià i Imbers is a race car driver in the IndyCar Series, originally from Catalonia, Spain. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.-Early career:...
went airborne, after hit Mauricio Gugelmin from behind. Both drivers retired. Servia's car did a frontflip. Servià suffered slight neck pains, but he was ok. The restart came out at lap 68 with 5:50 minutes to go. Max Papis won the race. It was the third win in CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
for the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It was the sixth Team Rahal win in that season. Memo Gidley finished second, with Gil de Ferran third.