The Molson Indy Montreal was an annual auto race in Montreal, Quebec on the Champ Car World Series calendar.
History Originally known as the Molson Indy 300, it was first held at Sanair Super Speedway, an oval track, from 1984 through 1986. The Champ Car series revived the race in 2002, and it was held in late August each year until 2006 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a permanent road course most famous as the home of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.
In 2006, the name of the race was changed to the Grand Prix of Montreal after its sale by Molson Sports & Entertainment. This mirrored the name change of the Toronto Champ Car race from the Molson Indy Toronto to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto after its sale by Molson.
1985 finish controversy In the 1985 Sanair race, Roberto Guerrero had a strong lead until he lost control and spun. Later in the race Jacques Villeneuve Sr. collided with leader Bobby Rahal in an attempt to challenge for the lead, taking both out. The race finished under a yellow flag, but the safety car entered pit lane on the final lap, and thinking there would be a final restart, Pancho Carter passed Johnny Rutherford after the safety car entered pit lane and before the finish line. CART initially declared Carter the winner, but an appeals panel later overturned the decision and confirmed Rutherford's victory. In many codes of motorsport (typically FIA Code) the safety car enters pit lane as the field is on the final lap, and the cars cross the checkered flag together without the safety car on course. However, this practice is not accepted in North America, where the safety car leads the leaders to the finish line if the caution flag is still in effect.
Future prospects After the 2006 race, the future of the Grand Prix of Montreal became shrouded in doubt. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is allowed to be used for one race weekend outside of the Canadian Grand Prix, and it was heavily speculated that from 2007 onwards, Canadian Grand Prix promoter Normand Legault (who promotes all races at CGV) would replace the Grand Prix of Montreal with a NASCAR Busch Series race. Champ Car announced in September 2006 that it would indeed not be returning to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and would be replacing the event with one at Circuit Mont-Tremblant (2007 Mont-Tremblant Champ Car Grand Prix, previously held 1968–1970). Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve replaced the race with the NASCAR NAPA Auto Parts 200 race.
Race winners Sanair (1984–1986) Season Winning driver Chassis Engine Team Report Ref 1984 Danny Sullivan Lola Cosworth Doug Shierson Racing report 1985 Johnny Rutherford March Cosworth Alex Morales Autosports report 1986 Bobby Rahal March Cosworth Truesports report
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2002–2006) Season Winning driver Chassis Engine Team Report Ref 2002 Dario Franchitti Lola Honda Team Green report 2003 Michel Jourdain Jr. Lola Ford-Cosworth Team Rahal report 2004 Bruno Junqueira Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report 2005 Oriol Servia Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report 2006 Sébastien Bourdais Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report
Formula Atlantic winners These races were held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Season Winning driver 1978 Jeff Wood 1979 Howdy Holmes 1980 Jacques Villeneuve 1981 Kevin Cogan 1982 Tim Coconis 1983 Roberto Moreno 1986 Scott Goodyear 1988 Scott Harrington 1989 Scott Goodyear 1990 Jocko Cunningham 1991 Jimmy Vasser 1992 Chris Smith 1993 Jacques Villeneuve 1994 Richie Hearn 1995 David Empringham 1996 Patrick Carpentier 1997 Bertrand Godin 1998 Lee Bentham 1999 Alex Tagliani 2000 David Rutledge 2001 David Rutledge 2002 Rocky Moran Jr. 2003 A. J. Allmendinger 2004 Jon Fogarty 2005 Antoine Bessette 2006 Graham Rahal
Attendance Year Race day Weekend200264,000172,000200358,000148,000200453,320133,726200536,20493,7552006110,030
See also Molson Indy Toronto Molson Indy Vancouver List of Indycar races
References
External links Champ Car Stats: Sanair archive, Montreal archive Ultimate Racing History: Sanair archive, Montreal archive