The 2001 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on March 11, 2001, in Monterrey, Mexico at Fundidora Park before 116,000 spectators. The 78-lap race was the first of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series and the inaugural running of the event. Cristiano da Matta of Newman/Haas Racing won the race; Gil de Ferran finished second and Paul Tracy came in third.
After lapping the fastest time in qualifying, Kenny Bräck won the pole position and dominated the first half of the race, only conceding the lead to rookie competitor Scott Dixon, who chose not to make a pit stop during a caution period. However, Bräck was suddenly hampered by brief engine issues, allowing da Matta to overtake him for the lead on lap 43. Da Matta remained largely unchallenged for the rest of the race, only giving up the lead to Dario Franchitti during a cycle of green-flag pit stops, and earned his second CART victory. In addition, da Matta, Lola, and Toyota earned the lead in the Drivers' Championship, Constructors' Championship, and Manufacturers' Championship, respectively. The scheduled distance of 80 laps was curtailed to meet the two-hour time limit.
The race was deemed a success among journalists, drivers, and race organizers, prompting CART to host a second event in Mexico beginning in 2002. The Grand Prix of Monterrey remained on CART's schedule until 2006.
Background
The Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey was the first of 21 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series and the inaugural running of the event. It was held on March 11, 2001, in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, at Fundidora Park, a public park which was converted to a 12-turn, road course circuit, and was scheduled to be contested over 80 laps and .
The event, which marked the series' first race in Mexico since 1981, was organized by CART team owners Pat Patrick and Gerald Forsythe. CART Chairman and CEO Andrew Craig explained that the race gave the series a presence throughout all of North America and provided additional value to many of the series' sponsors. The race was also expected to economically benefit Monterrey, especially its hotel industry, and increase tourism in the city.
Although Team Penske retained their drivers from the previous season, Hélio Castroneves and reigning series champion Gil de Ferran, the months leading up to the 2001 season were full of drivers swapping teams. Chip Ganassi Racing notably changed their entire driver lineup, replacing Juan Pablo Montoya (who began racing in Formula One) and Jimmy Vasser with former International Formula 3000 drivers Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian. With Adrián Fernández driving for his self-owned Fernández Racing alongside Shinji Nakano, Vasser took Fernández's seat at Patrick Racing and 2000 Formula Nippon champion Tora Takagi took Nakano's seat in Walker Racing. At Newman/Haas Racing, Cristiano da Matta replaced Michael Andretti, who ended a six-year partnership with the team to join Team Green's satellite organization, Team Motorola. Mark Blundell departed PacWest Racing due to his poor finishes over the past two seasons and was replaced by 2000 Indy Lights champion Scott Dixon. The newly formed Arciero Brooke Racing signed rookie competitor Max Wilson. After a two-year absence from the series, Alex Zanardi returned in a second entry for Mo Nunn Racing.
The race at Monterrey debuted a new engine formula that CART mandated which reduced the maximum amount of manifold pressure from to in an attempt to decrease the cars' speeds and improve competitiveness. Castroneves and de Ferran both anticipated the race in Monterrey, despite the latter's lack of testing with the new aerodynamic package in the offseason. Da Matta and Christian Fittipaldi both acknowledged the uncertainties of preparing a racing setup at a circuit which the drivers had not raced on before, with da Matta commenting that "no one will still have it completely figured out." Paul Tracy believed the challenges of the new track in Monterrey would "level the playing field" and expressed excitement after completing several tests in the offseason. Fernández—one of two Mexican drivers competing in the race—aimed to avoid driving aggressively in order to finish well; he also admitted that he was suffering from wrist pain caused by intersection syndrome.
Practice Three practice sessions preceded the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The sessions ran for 120 minutes on Friday morning, 105 minutes on Friday afternoon, and 90 minutes on Saturday morning. Castroneves lapped the fastest time of the first session at 1 minute and 43.539, nearly three seconds quicker than second-place Fittipaldi; Michael Krumm, Roberto Moreno, and Maurício Gugelmin rounded out the top five. Despite the session being held under warm and sunny conditions, several drivers opted to use rain tires to navigate through the slickened track surface. CART Chief Steward Chris Kneifel called off the first session after 40 minutes and allowed the support series to commence their practice sessions in order to add grip to the surface. The second practice session was also extended by 30 minutes.
De Ferran became the fastest driver of the day during the second session by posting a time of 1 minute, 18.581 seconds, beating da Matta, Castroneves, Kenny Bräck, and Patrick Carpentier. Six red flags were issued during the session; the first was for a collision in turn ten involving Castroneves and Tracy, the second for Andretti spinning and Minassian subsequently stalling in turn eleven, the third for a track clean-up, the fourth for Junqueira spinning and stalling in turn eleven, the fifth for Carpenter spinning and stalling in turn two, and the sixth for Tracy slamming into a wall at the exit of turn twelve.
On Saturday morning, the weather conditions had become cloudy and teams utilized rain tires once again, although no rain was forecasted to interrupt on-track activity. Dario Franchitti led the third practice session with a fastest time of 1 minute and 16.349 seconds. De Ferran was three tenths of a second slower in second, followed by da Matta in third, Tony Kanaan fourth, and Dixon fifth. The session was paused for 28 minutes to repair a dislodged layer of bricks beneath the turf in the fifth and sixth turns. After a stoppage for a spin involving da Matta in turn four, the session was brought to an early end when Zanardi's engine burst into flames on the front stretch. While Zanardi was uninjured, the incident forced him to resort to a backup car.
Qualifying
Saturday afternoon's 75-minute qualifying session implemented a new format which split the competitors into two groups based on their placement in the Drivers' Championship the previous season. Each group was permitted 30 minutes of time to put down laps, with a 15-minute interval in between the groups, and the race's starting order would be determined by the drivers' fastest laps. Conditions cooled during the qualifying session, which improved the track surface and increased speeds. Bräck earned his first career pole position with a fastest time of 1 minute and 15.244 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by da Matta, who was 0.195 seconds slower and held the pole position until Bräck's lap. De Ferran persevered through extreme stomach pains to qualify third, one spot ahead of teammate Castroneves, while Andretti's lap at the end of the session improved his position from the middle of the grid to fifth. Despite spinning in turn two, Carpentier matched his career-best qualifying effort on road courses in sixth. Franchitti, Oriol Servià, and Patrick Racing teammates Vasser and Moreno rounded out the top-ten qualifiers.
Max Papis struggled with a loss of grip as the session progressed and qualified 11th, ahead of Kanaan in 12th and Alex Tagliani in 13th. Dixon, who took 14th, was the highest-qualifying rookie in the grid. Tracy only mustered a 15th-place qualifying effort due to his poorly handling car. Fittipaldi, in 16th, experienced numerous mechanical issues throughout the weekend and complained of a lack of grip. Gugelmin, Bryan Herta, Fernández (who spun in turn four with one minute left in the session), and Junqueira took the remaining positions in the top-20. Minassian believed traffic prevented him from qualifying higher than 21st. Zanardi took 22nd, with Krumm in 23rd, Michel Jourdain Jr. 24th, Takagi 25th, and Wilson 26th. Nakano caused the lone stoppage of the qualifying session on his sixth lap when he spun into the tire barrier in turn seven, leaving him to start 27th. Luiz Garcia Jr. had difficulties with oversteer and took the 28th and final position on the grid.
Qualifying classification Driver Team Time 1 8 Kenny BräckTeam Rahal1:15.244100.665 12 6 Cristiano da MattaNewman/Haas Racing1:15.439100.404 23 1 Gil de FerranTeam Penske1:15.551100.255 34 3 Hélio CastronevesTeam Penske1:15.580100.217 45 39 Michael AndrettiTeam Motorola1:16.10499.527 56 32 Patrick CarpentierForsythe Racing1:16.35399.202 67 27 Dario FranchittiTeam Green1:16.37599.174 78 22 Oriol ServiàSigma Autosport1:16.4499.084 89 40 Jimmy VasserPatrick Racing1:16.45699.069 910 20 Roberto MorenoPatrick Racing1:16.48499.032 1011 7 Max PapisTeam Rahal1:16.51298.996 1112 55 Tony KanaanMo Nunn Racing1:16.64798.822 1213 33 Alex TaglianiForsythe Racing1:16.71698.733 1314 18 Scott DixonPacWest Racing1:16.82698.592 1415 26 Paul TracyTeam Green1:16.90998.485 1516 11 Christian FittipaldiNewman/Haas Racing1:16.93798.449 1617 17 Maurício GugelminPacWest Racing1:17.00598.362 1718 77 Bryan HertaForsythe Racing1:17.13798.194 1819 51 Adrian FernándezFernández Racing1:17.27098.025 1920 4 Bruno JunqueiraChip Ganassi Racing1:17.50597.728 2021 12 Nicolas MinassianChip Ganassi Racing1:17.75097.646 2122 66 Alex ZanardiMo Nunn Racing1:17.85197.294 2223 19 Michael KrummDale Coyne Racing1:17.91497.215 2324 16 Michel Jourdain Jr.Bettenhausen Racing1:18.38196.636 2425 5 Toranosuke TakagiWalker Racing1:18.99195.889 2526 25 Max WilsonArciero Brooke Racing1:19.29495.523 2627 52 Shinji NakanoFernández Racing1:19.36295.441 2728 21 Luiz Garcia Jr.Dale Coyne Racing1:20.93193.591 28Source:
Warm-up The drivers took to the track on Sunday at 11:00 AM CST (UTC−06:00) for a 30-minute warmup session. Castroneves turned the quickest lap of the session with a time of 1 minute and 16.425 seconds, besting second-fastest driver Bräck by four tenths of a second. Andretti was third, Junqueira fourth, and Kanaan fifth. Garcia Jr., Junqueira, and Papis all drove off-course and Jourdain Jr.'s car expelled debris onto the track, although the red flag was not issued until Garcia Jr. spun and stalled in turn one with two minutes remaining, forcing the session to prematurely end.
Race As sunlight remerged above the circuit, weather conditions warmed significantly, with air temperatures reaching and track temperatures measuring around . Multiple accidents were expected to occur throughout the race, especially at instances when the field would be bunched together. Mexican businessman José Antonio Fernández Carbajal and Governor of Nuevo León Fernando Canales Clariond commanded the drivers to start their engines and the green flag was waved at 3:06 PM CST to signify the start of the race. Bräck used the pole position to his advantage and pulled ahead of da Matta at the exit of the first corner, while Castroneves passed de Ferran for third. Behind the leaders, Zanardi made slight contact with Minassian and sent Junqueira spinning in the seventh turn. Junqueira stalled and restarted his car with the assistance of track marshals, although he was assessed a drive-through penalty for pulling away while a tow rope was still attached to his car. Junqueira, now two laps behind the leaders, contacted the rear of Minassian's car on lap 6 and received no damage.