25°40′41″N 100°17′00″W / 25.67806°N 100.28333°W / 25.67806; -100.28333
Motor car race
The 2001 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on March 11, 2001 at Fundidora Park in Monterrey, Mexico in front of a crowd of 116,000 people. It was the first round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season and the inaugural open-wheel race at Monterrey (not to be confused with the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in California). It was the first time CART had raced in Mexico since 1981 . Newman/Haas Racing driver Cristiano da Matta led 32 laps of a timed race en route to his second career victory and his first with the team. Defending series champion Gil de Ferran finished 2nd and Paul Tracy finished 3rd.
Despite leading much the first half of the race and starting on pole, Team Rahal driver Kenny Bräck finished 5th after he first experienced engine difficulties and then brake problems later on. Multiple drivers and teams experienced difficulties with their cars as this was the first full race of the season.
The race distance was shortened from 80 to 78 laps to comply with the two-hour time limit. There were five lead changes and three cautions. The race was considered a huge success for an inaugural event, and it remained on the CART calendar until 2006 ; its success inspired a second event in Mexico City from 2002 to 2007.
Qualifying
Race
Notes 1 [ 3] 2 [ 3]
Race statistics
Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders[ 4]
Laps
Leader
1–23
Kenny Bräck
24-37
Scott Dixon
38-42
Kenny Bräck
43-56
Cristiano da Matta
57-60
Dario Franchitti
61-78
Cristiano da Matta
Total laps led[ 4]
Leader
Laps
Cristiano da Matta
32
Kenny Bräck
28
Scott Dixon
14
Dario Franchitti
4
Cautions: 3 for 16 laps[ 4]
Laps
Reason
9-13
Max Wilson crashes
22-27
Roberto Moreno crashes
68-72
Christian Fittipaldi crashes
Standings after the race
Drivers' standings [ 5]
Constructors' standings
Manufacturer's Standings[ 6]
References
^ "2001 Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Presented by Herdez Qualifying Results" . Championship Auto Racing Teams. March 10, 2001. Archived from the original on January 10, 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2017 .^ "2001 Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Presented by Herdez" . Championship Auto Racing Teams. March 11, 2001. Archived from the original on January 10, 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2017 .^ a b 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 )^ a b c "2001 Tecate Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Box Score" (PDF) . Championship Auto Racing Teams. March 11, 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 23, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2017 .^ "2001 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Results" . Racing-reference.info. Retrieved May 31, 2017 .^ "Points standings after Monterrey" . Motorsport.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017 .[permanent dead link ]
