2001 Target Grand Prix of Chicago

The 2001 Target Grand Prix, known informally as the 2001 Grand Prix of Chicago, was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on July 29, 2001 at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois, USA. It was the 12th round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season. Kenny Bräck won his third race of the season and of his CART career for Team Rahal ahead of Patrick Carpentier and Gil de Ferran.

2001 Target Grand Prix
Race details
Race 12 of 21 in the 2001 CART season
DateJuly 29, 2001
Official name2001 Target Grand Prix Presented by Energizer
LocationChicago Motor Speedway, Cicero, Illinois, United States
CourseOval
1.029 mi / 1.656 km
Distance225 laps
231.525 mi / 372.6 km
Pole position
Driver Tony Kanaan (Mo Nunn Racing)
Time23.145
Fastest lap
Driver Kenny Bräck (Team Rahal)
Time24.687 (on lap 164 of 225)
Podium
First Kenny Bräck (Team Rahal)
Second Patrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing)
Third Gil de Ferran (Team Penske)

Bräck's quick pace allowed him to make up ground in the second half of the race and ultimately win the race itself, further distancing himself from second place Hélio Castroneves in the drivers' standings. Carpentier and Forsythe Racing were in the middle of a powerful surge in form, with teammates earning podiums at Cleveland and Toronto and Carpentier taking his first career win just a week earlier at the Michigan 500. de Ferran was also beginning an improvement in form and consistency that would make him a championship contender at the end of the season.

The race saw much clean on-track action and multiple lead changes, something that was not common for open-wheel cars on oval tracks. Only three cars retired from the race, and only one was a result of contact with the barriers.

Qualifying
July 28, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds
RankDriverTimeLeaderSpeed (mph)Team
1 Tony Kanaan 23.145 — 160.052 Mo Nunn Racing
2 Hélio Castroneves 23.148 +0.003 160.031 Team Penske
3 Adrian Fernández 23.203 +0.058 159.652 Fernandez Racing
4 Memo Gidley 23.221 +0.076 159.528 Chip Ganassi Racing
5 Alex Zanardi 23.315 +0.170 158.885 Mo Nunn Racing
6 Jimmy Vasser 23.317 +0.172 158.871 Patrick Racing
7 Roberto Moreno 23.327 +0.182 158.803 Patrick Racing
8 Kenny Bräck 23.340 +0.195 158.715 Team Rahal
9 Patrick Carpentier 23.371 +0.226 158.504 Forsythe Racing
10 Dario Franchitti 23.395 +0.250 158.342 Team Green
11 Bruno Junqueira (R) 23.409 +0.264 158.247 Chip Ganassi Racing
12 Gil de Ferran 23.458 +0.313 157.916 Team Penske
13 Maurício Gugelmin 23.459 +0.314 157.910 PacWest Racing
14 Alex Tagliani 23.471 +0.326 157.829 Forsythe Racing
15 Bryan Herta 23.498 +0.353 157.647 Forsythe Racing
16 Shinji Nakano 23.501 +0.356 157.627 Fernandez Racing
17 Michael Andretti 23.513 +0.368 157.547 Team Motorola
18 Tora Takagi (R) 23.539 +0.394 157.373 Walker Motorsport
19 Scott Dixon (R) 23.568 +0.423 157.179 PacWest Racing
20 Cristiano da Matta 23.592 +0.447 157.019 Newman-Haas Racing
21 Oriol Servià 23.678 +0.533 156.449 Sigma Autosport
22 Paul Tracy 23.742 +0.597 156.027 Team Green
23 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 23.805 +0.660 155.614 Bettenhausen Racing
24 Christian Fittipaldi 23.957 +0.812 154.627 Newman-Haas Racing
25 Max Papis 23.984 +0.839 154.453 Team Rahal
Source:[1]

Race
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/retiredGridPoints
1 8 Kenny Bräck Team Rahal 225 1:45:12.835 8 20
2 32 Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 225 +4.480 9 16
3 1 Gil de Ferran Team Penske 225 +5.190 12 14
4 18 Scott Dixon (R) PacWest Racing 225 +5.563 19 12
5 12 Memo Gidley Chip Ganassi Racing 225 +9.651 4 10
6 33 Alex Tagliani Forsythe Racing 225 +13.037 14 8
7 3 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske 225 +13.597 2 71
8 55 Tony Kanaan Mo Nunn Racing 225 +14.558 1 62
9 66 Alex Zanardi Mo Nunn Racing 225 +17.157 5 4
10 51 Adrian Fernández Fernandez Racing 225 +20.914 3 3
11 5 Tora Takagi (R) Walker Motorsport 225 +21.199 18 2
12 26 Paul Tracy Team Green 225 +22.098 22 1
13 7 Max Papis Team Rahal 225 +39.483 25 —
14 40 Jimmy Vasser Patrick Racing 224 +1 Lap 6 —
15 27 Dario Franchitti Team Green 224 +1 Lap 10 —
16 52 Shinji Nakano Fernandez Racing 224 +1 Lap 16 —
17 4 Bruno Junqueira (R) Chip Ganassi Racing 223 +2 Laps 11 —
18 22 Oriol Servià Sigma Autosport 223 +2 Laps 21 —
19 6 Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing 223 +2 Laps 20 —
20 20 Roberto Moreno Patrick Racing 223 +2 Laps 7 —
21 77 Bryan Herta Forsythe Racing 222 +3 Laps 15 —
22 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing 220 +5 Laps 13 —
23 16 Michel Jourdain, Jr. Bettenhausen Racing 189 Contact 23 —
24 39 Michael Andretti Team Motorola 187 Engine 17 —
25 11 Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 102 Engine 24 —
Source:[2]
Notes
  • 1– Includes one bonus point for leading the most laps.[3]
  • 2– Includes one bonus point for being the fastest qualifier.[3]

Race statistics
  • Lead changes: 14 among 9 drivers

Standings after the race

References
  1. "2001 Target Grand Prix Qualifying Results". Championship Auto Racing Teams. July 28, 2001. Archived from the original on July 2, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  2. "2001 Target Grand Prix Race Results". Championship Auto Racing Teams. July 29, 2001. Archived from the original on May 4, 2003. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
  3. Championship Auto Racing Teams (March 2001). "CART FedEx Championship Series - 2001 Rule Book". Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "2001 Target Grand Prix of Chicago". Racing-Reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  5. "Target Grand Prix Sunday Press Notes". Championship Auto Racing Teams. July 29, 2001. Archived from the original on March 25, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  6. "Ford Race Report". Championship Auto Racing Teams. July 29, 2001. Archived from the original on March 25, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
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