2002 Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix

2002 Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix

Race details
1st round of the 2002 CART season ←  Previous race Next race  →
Layout of the Fundidora Park circuit
Date	March 10, 2002
Official name	Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix
Location	Parque Fundidora, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.104 mi / 3.386 km
Distance	85 laps 178.840 mi / 287.810 km
Pole position
Driver	Adrian Fernández  (Fernández Racing)
Time	1:18.929
Fastest lap
Driver	Cristiano da Matta  (Newman/Haas Racing)
Time	1:15.386 (on lap 74 of 85)
Podium
First	Cristiano da Matta  (Newman/Haas Racing)
Second	Dario Franchitti  (Team KOOL Green)
Third	Christian Fittipaldi  (Newman/Haas Racing)
Chronology
Previous Next 2001 2003

The 2002 Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix was the first round of the 2002 CART season. The race was held on March 10, 2002, in Monterrey, Mexico at Parque Fundidora. The race was contested of 85 laps. Cristiano da Matta won the race, marking his second straight win in the event. ^[1] Dario Franchitti finished 2nd, and Christian Fittipaldi finished 3rd. Michel Jourdain Jr. and Alex Tagliani rounded out the top five, and Scott Dixon, Patrick Carpentier, Paul Tracy, Max Papis, and Oriol Servià rounded out the top ten.

Qualifying results

Pos	Nat	Name	Team	Qual 1	Qual 2	Best
1		Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	1:18.929	1:46.320	1:18.929
2		Dario Franchitti	Team KOOL Green	1:19.202	-	1:19.202
3		Alex Tagliani	Team Player's	1:19.241	1:51.165	1:19.241
4		Christian Fittipaldi	Newman/Haas Racing	1:19.270	-	1:19.270
5		Cristiano da Matta	Newman/Haas Racing	1:19.275	-	1:19.275
6		Michel Jourdain Jr.	Team Rahal	1:19.326	-	1:19.326
7		Bruno Junqueira	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	1:19.480	-	1:19.480
8		Kenny Bräck	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	1:19.491	-	1:19.491
9		Townsend Bell	Patrick Racing	1:19.682	-	1:19.682
10		Jimmy Vasser	Team Rahal	1:19.832	-	1:19.832
11		Oriol Servià	PWR Championship Racing	1:19.878	-	1:19.878
12		Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	1:19.982	-	1:19.982
13		Tony Kanaan	Mo Nunn Racing	1:19.985	-	1:19.985
14		Scott Dixon	PWR Championship Racing	1:20.224	-	1:20.224
15		Tora Takagi	Walker Racing	1:20.400	-	1:20.400
16		Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	1:20.473	1:49.075	1:20.473
17		Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	1:20.712	-	1:20.712
18		Max Papis	Sigma Autosport	1:21.992	-	1:21.992
19		Paul Tracy	Team KOOL Green	1:22.347	-	1:22.347
20		Shinji Nakano	Fernández Racing	1:20.419	-	-*

* Nakano ran his backup car in the qualification 2 session (but was unable to complete a lap), thus forfeiting the qualifying time he set in his primary car on Friday.

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Cristiano da Matta	Newman/Haas Racing	85	1:58:30.642	5	21
2	27	Dario Franchitti	Team KOOL Green	85	+1.679	2	16
3	11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman/Haas Racing	85	+3.244	4	14
4	9	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Team Rahal	85	+3.785	6	12
5	33	Alex Tagliani	Team Player's	85	+7.261	3	10
6	7	Scott Dixon	PWR Championship Racing	85	+9.427	14	8
7	32	Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	85	+9.937	17	6
8	26	Paul Tracy	Team KOOL Green	85	+10.318	19	5
9	22	Max Papis	Sigma Autosport	85	+11.076	18	4
10	17	Oriol Servià	PWR Championship Racing	85	+12.717	11	3
11	4	Bruno Junqueira	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	84	Off course	7	2
12	39	Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	84	+ 1 Lap	16	1
13	51	Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	84	+ 1 Lap	1	2
14	5	Tora Takagi	Walker Racing	83	+ 2 Laps	15	0
15	52	Shinji Nakano	Fernández Racing	83	+ 2 Laps	20	0
16	10	Tony Kanaan	Mo Nunn Racing	75	Contact	13	0
17	16	Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	23	Mechanical	12	0
18	12	Kenny Bräck	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	1	Contact	8	0
19	20	Townsend Bell	Patrick Racing	0	Contact	9	0
20	8	Jimmy Vasser	Team Rahal	0	Contact	10	0

Caution flags

Laps	Cause
1-3	Bell (20), Vasser (8), Junqueira (4) & Bräck (12) contact
77-81	Takagi (5) & Kanaan (10) contact

Notes

Laps Leader 1-14 Adrian Fernández 15-27 Alex Tagliani 28-31 Patrick Carpentier 32-50 Cristiano da Matta 51 Dario Franchitti 52 Max Papis 53-85 Cristiano da Matta

Driver Laps led Cristiano da Matta 52 Adrian Fernández 14 Alex Tagliani 13 Patrick Carpentier 4 Dario Franchitti 1 Max Papis 1

• New Race Lap Record Cristiano da Matta 1:15.386
• New Race Record Cristiano da Matta 1:58:30.642
• Average Speed 90.544 mph
• CART's first race after the departure of Team Penske for the archrival Indy Racing League .

References

1. Miller, Robin (March 10, 2002). "DA MATTA REPEATS!". CART.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2002. Retrieved July 14, 2025.

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