2000 Rio 200

Last updated

Flag of Brazil.svg 2000 Rio 200
Race details
Race 3 of 20 in the 2000 CART season
Jacarepagua-oval.svg
DateApril 30, 2000
Location Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
CoursePermanent racing facility
1.864 mi / 3.000 km
Distance108 laps
201.312 mi / 323.980 km
WeatherHot and sunny
Pole position
Driver Alex Tagliani  (Forsythe Racing)
Time38.587 (173.91 mph)
Fastest lap
Driver Alex Tagliani  (Forsythe Racing)
Time39.445 (on lap 70 of 108)
Podium
First Adrián Fernández  (Patrick Racing)
Second Jimmy Vasser  (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third Paul Tracy  (Team Green)

The 2000 Rio 200 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) auto race held at the trapezoid-shaped Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway , Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 30, 2000. It was the third race of the 2000 CART season, the fifth (and last) running of the event, and the first round of the year to be held outside of the United States. The 108-lap race was won by Patrick Racing driver Adrián Fernández after he started from sixteenth. Jimmy Vasser of Chip Ganassi Racing finished second with Team Green's Paul Tracy third.

Contents

Tagliani set the fastest overall lap time in qualifying to start the race from pole position. He led for a total of 76 laps, more than any driver. However, Tagliani lost traction in his car on the 100th lap and spun in the second corner, promoting Fernández to the lead. The race ended under caution and no overtaking was permitted after Tagliani spun for a second time at the end of lap 105. Fernández thus won the race, his first of the season, and the sixth of his career. There were five cautions and eight lead changes among five different drivers during the course of the event.

The result of the race reduced Tracy's lead the Drivers' Championship to six points over Vasser. Roberto Moreno moved clear of Max Papis in their early season duel for third and Fernández's victory promoted him to fifth place. Ford Cosworth took the Manufacturers' Championship lead from Honda, with Toyota and Mercedes-Benz third and fourth with seventeen races left in the season.

Background

The Rio 200 was confirmed as part of CART's 2000 series schedule in November 1999. [1] It was the fifth consecutive year the Rio 200 was part of the series, [2] the first of four straight oval track events, [3] and the first round held outside of the United States. [1] The Rio 200 was the third of twenty scheduled races for 2000 by CART, [4] and was held at the 1.864-mile (3.000 km) four-turn Autódromo de Jacarepaguá trapezoid-shaped speedway on April 30. [1] [2] Drivers regarded the Autódromo de Jacarepaguá as "demanding" due to braking and shifting down gears being prioritized for the first and third turns. This led CART to mandate all teams run the high-downforce specification of the Handford MkII wings to attempt to alleviate stress placed on the car's brakes and gearboxes by increasing the amount of drag produced to slow vehicles. Additionally, sand was blown on the track by local wind conditions for most of the year, reducing grip and visibility. [3]

Coming into the race from Long Beach two weeks earlier, Team Green driver Paul Tracy led the Drivers' Championship with 34 points. His nearest rival Jimmy Vasser of Chip Ganassi Racing was eight points adrift in second. Team Rahal's Max Papis and Roberto Moreno for Patrick Racing tied for third with 20 points apiece with the latter given priority in the points standings because of him winning the season-opening round at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Gil de Ferran of Team Penske was fifth with 18 points. [3] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Honda were leading with 38 points, six ahead of the second-placed Ford Cosworth. Toyota were third with 26 points and Mercedes-Benz were fourth with eight points. [5] Reynard topped the Constructors' Championship with 44 points, followed by Lola and Swift with 26 and 10 points, respectively. [5] In terms of driver changes, Memo Gidley filled in for Patrick Carpentier at Forsythe Racing for the second successive round after Carpentier broke his left wrist at his Las Vegas home prior to Long Beach through losing his balance while carrying a heavy suitcase. [6]

Tracy, the 1997 race winner, was circumspect about the prospects but spoke his belief he would keep the championship lead until the season-finale at California Speedway by employing a race-by-race approach: "We're only two races into a very long season, but I've got say that I like the way things have gone so far for the Team KOOL Green crew. Leading the championship makes you think about winning the title, but we know we've got a long way to go to reach that goal." [7] Vasser stated he was comfortable with his new car package and aimed to continue his recent form into the Rio 200: "Obviously, it's way too early to be looking at the point standings but, as you learn pretty quickly, every point is important." [8] Alex Tagliani aimed to maintain Forsythe Racing's strong form after Tracy's and Greg Moore's success at Rio in the late 1990s and would attempt to use this to maintain the team's strong record at the track, "We're all pulling in the same direction and I think that spirit of collaboration is evident in the results that we've been able to produce so far." [8]

Practice and qualifying

Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2002) set the fastest overall lap time in the duo of Friday practice sessions. Juan Pablo Montoya (cropped).jpg
Juan Pablo Montoya (pictured in 2002) set the fastest overall lap time in the duo of Friday practice sessions.

There were three practice sessions preceding Sunday's race: two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session ran for 90 minutes, the second 60 minutes, and the third 75 minutes. [9] [10] Conditions during the Friday practice sessions were hot and sunny. [9] De Ferran set the first practice session's fastest lap at 39.610 seconds, followed by Tagliani, Tracy, Hélio Castroneves, Kenny Bräck, Vasser, Papis, Cristiano da Matta, Moreno, and Christian Fittipaldi. [11] Five yellow flags were waved. The first was for Takuya Kurosawa whose engine failed on the exit of turn four. He turned left to leave the main straight and allow safety officials to extinguish a fire in the engine compartment. The next two cautions were necessitated when Luiz Garcia Jr. and Mark Blundell stalled on the track separately. Both were towed back to pit road by circuit officials. Gualter Salles caused the fourth yellow flag with a heavily crash against the right-hand barrier at the first corner. Salles was not injured but his car sustained heavy damage to its right-side suspension. He stopped in the centre of the circuit in turn two. The last caution was activated for Fittipaldi who stalled on track. [9]

In the second practice session, Juan Pablo Montoya set the day's fastest lap with a time of 38.922 seconds and was the only driver to go below 39 seconds. He was almost three-tenths of a second faster than Bräck in second and Tagliani was third. Fittipaldi, Castroneves, Vasser, Da Matta, Papis, de Ferran, and Michael Andretti were in positions four through ten. [12] The first three cautions came within half an hour of each other because debris and fluids were observed lying on the track and separate track inspections were needed to inspect and clean it. De Ferran caused the fourth caution by spinning in the third turn but avoided car damage. The final caution came out after Maurício Gugelmin spun in turn four and collided against a left-hand tire barrier with the rear of his car. Gugelmin was unhurt. [9]

Conditions remained hot and sunny during Saturday morning's practice session. [10] The first caution came out for debris on the backstraight that needed clearing. Montoya prompted the second caution when he spun 360 degrees in turn four but did not damage his car. Bräck caused a third yellow flag after he stalled on the exit of pit road. Six minutes later, a fourth caution was waved for debris leaving the pit lane that course officials removed. The fifth yellow flags were necessitated after Moreno broke his right-front wheel and wing endplate in a collision with the turn one outside barrier. Bryan Herta stalled on the backstraight and triggered the final caution with 14 minutes to go. [10] Tagliani continued to perform well with the fastest lap of the session at 38.694 seconds. Montoya was one-tenth of a second slower in second, and Tracy replicated his first practice result in third. Bräck, Fittipaldi, Papis, Tony Kanaan, Castroneves, Vasser, and Adrián Fernández completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. [13]

Alex Tagliani (pictured in 2015) won the first pole position of his career. Alex Tagliani - Carb Day 2015 - Sarah Stierch.jpg
Alex Tagliani (pictured in 2015) won the first pole position of his career.

Saturday afternoon's 135 minute qualifying session began with the slowest driver in the weekend's combined practice sessions going out first and the quickest competitor ventured out last. Each driver was restricted to two timed laps and the starting order was determined by the competitor's fastest lap times. One point was awarded to the pole position winner. [10] Tagliani took the first pole position of his career with a lap of 38.587 seconds. [14] He was joined on the grid's front row by Montoya who was 0.109 seconds slower because of an oversteer in the first corner. Tracy's car steeped out of him once he accelerated out of turn one and took third. [15] Bräck was fourth, and the fastest Brazilian was Fittipaldi in fifth. [16] Vasser changed the set-up of his car to go sixth. [15] Castroneves was unhappy with the set-up of his vehicle and took seventh. [16] Dario Franchitti ran slightly wide by driving too fast into turn four on his fastest lap and was eighth. Rounding out the top ten were Kanaan and Papis. [15]

Gidley was the fastest driver not to qualify in the top ten; his fastest time of 39.246 seconds was nearly seven-tenths of a second slower than Tagliani because he had to control his car from spinning going off turn four. [10] [16] Moreno went to his back-up car to suit his driving style and set the 12th-fastest time. [17] A car setup fault restricted De Ferran to 13th. Oriol Servià, Andretti and Fernández qualified in positions 14 to 16. Da Matta (17th) and Norberto Fontana (18th) were required to qualify with a second run after mechanical issues hindered them on their first tyres. Kurosawa and Herta took 19th and 20th. [16] Gugelmin and his PacWest teammate Blundell had a large amount of push in the centre of the corners and too much oversteer coming out of them left them in 21st and 23rd. [18] The pair were separated by Michel Jourdain Jr. in 22nd after he lost some straight line speed but was faster in the turns despite an oversteer leaving them. [19] Garcia's lack of on-circuit time in his car meant he began from 24th. Salles did not set a lap time because his team continued to repair his car following his first practice session crash. [16] After qualifying, Garcia's best lap time was annulled because his car failed post-race inspection for minimum weight requirements. Garcia was consequently ordered to start from the back of the grid. [10]

Qualifying classification

Final qualifying classification
PosNo.DriverTeamTimeSpeedGap
133Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Alex Tagliani  (CAN) Forsythe Racing 38.587173.903
21Flag of Colombia.svg  Juan Pablo Montoya  (COL) Chip Ganassi Racing 38.696173.403+0.109
326Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Paul Tracy  (CAN) Team Green 38.843172.757+0.256
48Flag of Sweden.svg  Kenny Bräck  (SWE) Team Rahal 38.876172.610+0.289
511Flag of Brazil.svg  Christian Fittipaldi  (BRA) Newman/Haas Racing 38.879172.597+0.292
612Flag of the United States.svg  Jimmy Vasser  (USA) Chip Ganassi Racing 38.943172.313+0.356
73Flag of Brazil.svg  Hélio Castroneves  (BRA) Team Penske 38.985172.128+0.396
827Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Dario Franchitti  (GBR) Team Green 39.026171.947+0.439
955Flag of Brazil.svg  Tony Kanaan  (BRA) Mo Nunn Racing 39.101171.617+0.514
107Flag of Italy.svg  Max Papis  (ITA) Team Rahal 39.227171.066+0.640
1132Flag of the United States.svg  Memo Gidley  (USA) Forsythe Racing 39.246170.983+0.659
1220Flag of Brazil.svg  Roberto Moreno  (BRA) Patrick Racing 39.265170.900+0.678
132Flag of Brazil.svg  Gil de Ferran  (BRA) Team Penske 39.298170.757+0.711
1496Flag of Spain.svg  Oriol Servià  (ESP) PPI Motorsports 39.306170.722+0.719
156Flag of the United States.svg  Michael Andretti  (USA) Newman/Haas Racing 39.340170.574+0.753
1640Flag of Mexico.svg  Adrián Fernández  (MEX) Patrick Racing 39.391170.354+0.804
1797Flag of Brazil.svg  Cristiano da Matta  (BRA) PPI Motorsports 39.419170.233+0.832
1810Flag of Argentina.svg  Norberto Fontana  (ARG) Della Penna Motorsports 39.504169.866+0.917
1919Flag of Japan.svg  Takuya Kurosawa  (JPN) Dale Coyne Racing 39.590169.497+1.003
205Flag of the United States.svg  Bryan Herta  (USA) Walker Motorsport 39.620169.369+1.033
2117Flag of Brazil.svg  Maurício Gugelmin  (BRA) PacWest Racing 39.682169.104+1.095
2216Flag of Mexico.svg  Michel Jourdain Jr.  (MEX) Bettenhausen Racing 39.856168.366+1.269
2318Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Mark Blundell  (GBR) PacWest Racing 40.073167.454+1.486
2434Flag of Brazil.svg  Gualter Salles  (BRA) Dale Coyne Racing No timeNo speed
2525Flag of Brazil.svg  Luiz Garcia Jr.  (BRA) Arciero Racing No timeNo speed 1
Source: [16] [20]
Notes

Warm-up

A half hour warm-up session was held in hot and sunny weather on the Sunday morning of the race. [21] Although de Ferran was suffering from a head cold, he set the session's fastest lap at 39.289 seconds. [21] Vasser was 0.002 seconds slower in second. The third-fastest time was set by Bräck while the fourth position was the pole position winner Tagliani. The quartet of Brazilians of da Matta. Kanaan, Fittipaldi and Gugelmin filled positions five through eight, with Tracy and Montoya ninth and tenth. [22] Castroneves caused the session's first caution when he stopped with a faulty transmission between turns one and two. Bräck lost control of his car in the fourth corner, and he slid into a right-hand side tire barrier with his right-front wheel, damaging his front wing and suspension. [23]

Race

Weather conditions at the start of the race were dry and sunny. The air temperature throughout the race was between 85–88 °F (29–31 °C) and the track temperature ranged from 112–121 °F (44–49 °C). [24] Emerson Fittipaldi, a two-time Formula One World Champion, commanded the drivers to start their engines. The race began at 1:37 p.m. BRT (UTC+03:00). Immediately, the first caution of the race was shown because Tagliani moved too far away from Montoya as every other car went across the start/finish line. Concurrently, Servià lost control of his car leaving turn four, and hit the inside tire barrier at the start of the main straightaway, retiring instantly. Green flag racing got under way on the fifth lap with Tagliani leading Montoya and Tracy. Bräck steered left to pass Tracy for third position at turn three 17 laps later. However, he could not retain the position as Tracy retook the place at the next corner, but Bräck made his original manoeuvre stick on the main straightaway. Fontana was deemed by race control to have overtaken Fernández before the start/finish line on the lap five start. He was given a black flag on lap 17 which ordered him to serve a drive-through penalty. [23] On the 23rd lap, Castroneves retired in the pit lane because of a gearbox problem rendering him unable to downshift. [25]

Montoya retired with a broken shifter cable on lap 30. [26] Green flag pit stops for fuel and tires began on lap 33, when Tagliani and Bräck entered pit road, handing the lead to Tracy. Vasser assumed the lead when Tracy made his pit stop four laps later. Franchitti damaged his car when he slid backwards into the pit wall, and sustained light damage to the right-front wing endplate. Fernández led on laps 38 and 39 before he entered pit road for his first stop. After the pit stops, Tagliani retook the lead. On lap 55, Herta stalled at the bottom of the track between the first and second turns, prompting the second caution. Herta retired when he could not restart his car. [23] All of the cars on the lead lap except for Tagliani made pit stops under caution. [27] Racing was due to continue on lap 60, but the yellow flags were again needed when Garcia delayed the field, enabling Tagliani to get too far away from all other drivers. The race recommenced on the next lap with Tagliani holding first position. On lap 63, ninth-placed Papis cut a tire from contact with another car. He went a lap down during a pit stop for a replacement wheel. Kanaan retired with a mechanical problem six laps later. Andretti took the lead when Tagliani made his pit stop on the 75th lap. [23]

Adrian Fernandez (pictured in 2011) took the sixth victory of his career after Tagliani spun on the 100th lap. Adrian Fernandez Le Mans drivers parade 2011 crop.jpg
Adrián Fernández (pictured in 2011) took the sixth victory of his career after Tagliani spun on the 100th lap.

Brack took the lead when Andretti entered pit road two laps later. [23] At Andretti's pit stop, crew members Todd Tice and John Littlefield were moving way from the side of his car when Andretti had been instructed to leave his pit stall. This meant the fuelling vent hose Tice attempted to detach was pulled from his grip, and he jumped after it, only to become entangled in Andretti's right-rear wheel, breaking his right ankle and leg. Tice was evaluated on the scene by CART physician Terry Trammell, and was flown to Indianapolis on 1 May for further surgery. Littlefield was not seriously injured with bruising to his left leg. [28] Andretti was penalized for the incident; he incurred a drive-through penalty which he took on the 81st lap. Ten laps later, Bräck's lead of 9.144 seconds was reduced to nothing when the third caution came out for Jourdain who stalled at the bottom of turn two. Jourdain had assistance from course officials in restarting his car. During the caution, several drivers, including Bräck, made pit stops for tires and fuel. Tagliani chose not to make a pit stop, and he led the field back up to speed at the restart on lap 98. [23]

Two laps later, the fourth caution was given. Tagliani lost traction in his car in turn one and spun at the next corner. Franchitti and Andretti scrambled for space to avoid a collision with Tagliani's car only for them to make contact with each other. Although all three drivers, flat-spotted their tires, they elected not to enter the pit lane for new tires or repairs, as safety workers cleared debris on the track. [23] The green flag was waved on lap 105, but it was immediately replaced when Tagliani spun for a second time going into turn four because of heavy wear on his rear tires and stalled. [23] [27] This ended the race under caution, with overtaking forbidden. [29] Fernández thus achieved his first victory of the season, and the sixth of his career. [27] Vasser followed 0.931 seconds later in second, and Tracy finished in third. Off the podium, the Brazilian trio of da Matta, Fittipaldi, Moreno were fourth to sixth. Blundell, Gidley, Andretti, and Bräck, Franchitti and Garcia were the final finishers. [26] There were eight lead changes among five drivers during the course of the race. Tagliani's 76 laps led was the most of any driver. Fernández led twice for a total of 11 laps. [26]

Post-race

The top three drivers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies and appeared later at a press conference. Fernández said his victory was important since he had not finished a race until that point in the season, "But we kept working on the car, and tried a new set-up for the warm-up. That was pretty good, and it gave me some ideas on some changes to make during the race. I passed some cars early on, but then I got stuck – not stuck, really, but I got behind Cristiano da Matta, who was going very fast, and I couldn't get past him. I was getting frustrated, but in these races you have to be patient and try to think ahead." [30] Vasser said he observed Tagliani spinning in front of him and he chose to swerve right to avoid a collision, "It was basically a 50–50 chance. It was more luck than anything." [31] Third placed Tracy stated his car was running with more downforce than he desired, "I thought the field would be closer than it was but Juan and Alex just took off and I was slower down the straight. But the car was good by the end of the race. I was able to get by traffic and caught up to Jimmy and Adrian and I was really happy with the job the team did." [31]

Tagliani spoke of his race as a positive rather than a negative after he lost the opportunity to achieve his first victory, "I'm very proud of my race, except for my mistake. Until then, it had been a perfect weekend for Player's/Forsythe Racing, and I feel very, very bad for my guys.", and, "I was trying very hard to stay up front, and I tried a little too hard. I ran up into the marbles and tried to bring it back down into a spin, but I didn't make it. I'm very sad in my heart." [30] After twelve days, CART chief steward Kirk Russell annulled four of the points Andretti scored and ordered him to pay his ninth-place prize money earnings of $17,500 back to the series for Andretti violating the CART Rule Book, which states, "Unsafe acts will be penalized." after the injuries sustained by Tice and Littlefield at his second pit stop. [32] Russell stated that Andretti would not be disqualified and there would be no redistribution of his points and prize money, "Given the nature and severity of the incident, we would have excluded the no. 6 car from the remainder of the event. However, the information available at the time of the event did not support the action. We have to make call based on the best information at the time." [33]

The result reduced Tracy's lead in the Drivers' Championship to six points over Vasser. Moreno moved clear of Papis in the early battle for third position, and Fernández's victory advanced him to fifth. [34] Ford Cosworth assumed the Manufacturers' Championship lead with 54 points. Honda fell to second with two less points, Toyota were another ten points adrift in third, Mercedes-Benz were still fourth. [34] In the Constructors' Championship, Reynard's 66 points accumulated meant they continued to top the standings with Lola another twenty points behind in second. Swift maintained its hold on third with seventeen races left in the season. [34] This was the last race to be held in Rio as the planned race for the 2001 season was canceled when the Rio municipal government missed a deadline for guaranteeing payment of sanctioning fees, and failed to grant race promoter Emerson Fittipaldi access to the facility so he could begin to prepare for the race. [35]

Race classification

Drivers who scored championship points are denoted in bold.

Final race classification
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/retiredGridPoints
140Flag of Mexico.svg  Adrián Fernández  (MEX) Patrick Racing 1081:37.12.4901620
212Flag of the United States.svg  Jimmy Vasser  (USA) Chip Ganassi Racing 108+0.931616
326Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Paul Tracy  (CAN) Team Green 108+1.338314
497Flag of Brazil.svg  Cristiano da Matta  (BRA) PPI Motorsports 108+1.5811712
511Flag of Brazil.svg  Christian Fittipaldi  (BRA) Newman/Haas Racing 108+2.356510
620Flag of Brazil.svg  Roberto Moreno  (BRA) Patrick Racing 108+3.68712'8
718Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Mark Blundell  (GBR) PacWest Racing 108+5.079236
832Flag of the United States.svg  Memo Gidley  (USA) Forsythe Racing 108+6.504115
96Flag of the United States.svg  Michael Andretti  (USA) Newman/Haas Racing 107+1 Lap154
108Flag of Sweden.svg  Kenny Bräck  (SWE) Team Rahal 107+1 Lap43
1127Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Dario Franchitti  (GBR) Team Green 107+1 Lap82
1225Flag of Brazil.svg  Luiz Garcia Jr.  (BRA) Arciero Racing 104+4 Laps251
1333Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Alex Tagliani  (CAN) Forsythe Racing 102Crash12 2
1434Flag of Brazil.svg  Gualter Salles  (BRA) Dale Coyne Racing 98Engine24
1516Flag of Mexico.svg  Michel Jourdain Jr.  (MEX) Bettenhausen Racing 90Oil pressure22
167Flag of Italy.svg  Max Papis  (ITA) Team Rahal 90Gearbox10
172Flag of Brazil.svg  Gil de Ferran  (BRA) Team Penske 79Exhaust13
1855Flag of Brazil.svg  Tony Kanaan  (BRA) Mo Nunn Racing 69Gearbox9
1919Flag of Japan.svg  Takuya Kurosawa  (JPN) Dale Coyne Racing 64Mechanical19
205Flag of the United States.svg  Bryan Herta  (USA) Walker Motorsport 54Gearbox20
2117Flag of Brazil.svg  Maurício Gugelmin  (BRA) PacWest Racing 53Engine21
221Flag of Colombia.svg  Juan Pablo Montoya  (COL) Chip Ganassi Racing 30Shifter cable2
2310Flag of Argentina.svg  Norberto Fontana  (ARG) Della Penna Motorsports 29Mechanical18
243Flag of Brazil.svg  Hélio Castroneves  (BRA) Team Penske 22Gearbox7
2596Flag of Spain.svg  Oriol Servià  (ESP) PPI Motorsports 0Crash14
Source: [26] [36]
Notes

Standings after the race

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Molson Indy Toronto</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Molson Indy Toronto was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on July 15, 2001, at the Exhibition Place circuit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the tenth round of the 2001 CART season, the 16th annual edition of the Molson Indy Toronto, and the first of two events that were held in Canada. The 95-lap race was won by Team Motorola driver Michael Andretti, who started from the 13th position. Alex Tagliani finished second for the Forsythe Racing team, and Fernandez Racing driver Adrián Fernández came in third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1999 Michigan 500</span> Motor car race

The 1999 Michigan 500 was the twelfth round of the 1999 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 25, 1999 at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in Championship Car racing, the race was branded as the 1999 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Rockingham 500</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Rockingham 500 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on 22 September 2001 at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, Northamptonshire, England before 38,000 people. It was the 17th race of the 2001 CART season, the second event of the year to be held in Europe, and the series' first visit to the United Kingdom. Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran won the 140-lap race starting from second position. Kenny Bräck finished second for Team Rahal, and Newman/Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta was third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on June 24, 2001, at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, USA. It was the 8th round of the 2001 CART season. The race was won from the pole in severe wet conditions by Max Papis for Team Rahal. Roberto Moreno finished second, and Christian Fittipaldi clinched third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Lehigh Valley Grand Prix</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Lehigh Valley Grand Prix, known informally as the 2001 Nazareth 225, was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on May 6, 2001, at Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, USA. It was the 4th round of the 2001 CART season. Rookie Scott Dixon won the race by just four tenths of a second over Kenny Bräck, while Paul Tracy took third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Marlboro 500</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Marlboro 500 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on November 4, 2001 at the California Speedway, in Fontana, California. It was the 21st and final round of the 2001 CART season and the fifth annual edition of the Marlboro 500 at California Speedway. The 220-lap race was won by Newman/Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta who started from second position. Max Papis finished second for Team Rahal and Forsythe Racing driver Alex Tagliani came in third.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Molson Indy Vancouver</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Molson Indy Vancouver was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on September 2, 2001 at Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was the 15th round of the 2001 CART season. Roberto Moreno won the shortened race by five seconds over Gil de Ferran and Michael Andretti.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland</span> Motor car race

The 2001 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on July 1, 2001, at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was the 9th round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season. Team Green driver Dario Franchitti won the race after narrowly escaping a first-turn pile-up and then by gambling on a fuel-saving strategy that saw his car run out of fuel just after crossing the finish line ahead of a hard-charging Memo Gidley and Bryan Herta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2000 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami</span> Motor car race

The 2000 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami presented by Toyota was the first round of the 2000 CART FedEx Championship Series, held March 26, 2000, on the Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

References

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2000 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
CART Indycar World Series
2000 season
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2000 Firestone Firehawk 500
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1999 Rio 200
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