Michael Andretti came from 13th on the grid to win a caution-heavy CART race at Exhibition Place, while Kenny Brack's championship lead survived a mechanical retirement.
Michael Andretti won the 2001 Molson Indy Toronto from 13th on the grid, beating Alex Tagliani by a comfortable margin. The race was run over 95 laps with eleven cautions, and the win was Andretti's first and only of the season.
Held on 15 July 2001 on the Exhibition Place course in Toronto, Ontario, the Molson Indy was a CART motor race. Michael Andretti won from 13th on the grid, with Alex Tagliani second for Forsythe Racing and Adrian Fernandez third. The race was run over 95 laps and was punctuated by eleven cautions, which set a new track record for the event.
What was the 2001 Molson Indy Toronto?
It was round ten of the 2001 CART season, and this was the event's sixteenth running. It was the first of two CART races held in Canada that year, and the event had been on the schedule since it was confirmed in August 2000.
The race was the tenth of 21 scheduled events for CART in 2001. It had been held for sixteen consecutive years in the series.
The race was run on a street-style circuit within the grounds of Exhibition Place. The weather was sunny but partly cloudy, with air temperatures between 26 and 29 C (79 and 84 F) and a track surface between 47 and 51 C (116 and 123 F).
Eleven cautions, four pit stops and a late lead gave Andretti his only win of the season at Toronto.
Who was leading the championship before Toronto?
Kenny Brack topped the points table on 83, thirteen clear of Helio Castroneves in second, and Dario Franchitti was third. Gil de Ferran sat fourth on 56 points, one point ahead of da Matta in fifth.
Honda topped the manufacturers' table on 136 points. Toyota was close behind with 132, while Ford Cosworth had 114.
Franchitti was considered one of the favourites, having won the Toronto race two years earlier. He hoped to keep a recent run of good results going at the track. Brack, who had retired from the previous year's event, hoped to regain the momentum he had built early in the season. Michael Andretti, the defending champion, had taken six of his 40 career wins at the track, and he felt his driving style suited the circuit. Alex Tagliani had finished in the points in three of the previous four races, and he said that encouraged him ahead of the Toronto weekend.
How did practice and qualifying set the grid?
There were two 75-minute practice sessions, and a 90-minute test was held on the Friday afternoon. De Ferran set the fastest time of the first session at 59.107 seconds, with Castroneves second. In the second session de Ferran improved to 58.400 seconds, and in the final session Shinji Nakano was fastest at 58.133 seconds.
Red flags stopped the practice sessions several times. Conditions were dry for the Friday sessions, and the warm-up later produced a red flag when Fernandez went into the turn-five tyre wall after a braking error. A fuel cover from Patrick Carpentier's car was found on the racing line, Junqueira spun in turn eight, and Andretti struck the turn-eight tyre barrier and damaged his left-front suspension. Further stoppages followed in the second session.
Qualifying was held on Saturday afternoon over 75 minutes, with the cars split into two groups. De Ferran took his first pole of the season at 57.703 seconds, his second Toronto pole and his twelfth in total. Castroneves was alongside him on the front row, having held the pole until de Ferran's lap.
The qualifying groups were arranged so that the leading championship drivers and the two fastest drivers from the previous road-course race formed the second group. Each group had half an hour on the circuit, with a quarter-hour break between them.
Brack qualified third, Kanaan fourth and Tagliani fifth. Franchitti, Fernandez, Tracy, Moreno and Dixon completed the top ten. Servia was quickest of those outside the top ten, trailing de Ferran by 0.534 seconds. Carpentier and Gidley also collided during the session. Gidley's front suspension was badly damaged, but both drivers were unhurt.
Andretti started 13th after he had hit the turn-one tyre barrier lightly with his nose cone, and he later touched the turn-five wall on his final timed lap. Wilson and Nakano took 25th and 26th after Wilson made heavy contact with the back of Nakano's car, and both switched to back-up cars.
How did the race unfold?
The green flag came at 1:04 p.m. local time. De Ferran held his pole advantage into the first turn, while Franchitti passed Kanaan for fourth on the backstretch. Andretti clipped Dixon's car in the third corner, narrowly avoiding the outside wall.
An early yellow flag came after Andretti stalled on lap two, and officials had to restart his car. Andretti then made a pit stop for fuel on the instructions of his team manager. The second caution followed on the next lap, when Moreno spun in turn five and came to rest in the middle of the circuit.
A third caution came on lap ten, when Tracy glanced the rear-right wheel of Servia's car and both spun. De Ferran led the restart on lap 12, ahead of Brack and Franchitti. Franchitti passed Brack for second on lap 18, and Tagliani got by Kanaan one lap later.
By the 30th lap de Ferran had built a 7.5-second lead over Franchitti. The fourth caution came two laps later, when Takagi touched Wilson at the entrance to turn three. Franchitti retired on the same lap with an oil pressure problem, after drifting onto the run-off area at turn six.
Castroneves overtook Brack around the outside of turn three on the 39th lap, and Fernandez passed Brack two laps later. A fifth caution followed when Takagi and Servia made contact, and Servia briefly went airborne and damaged the left side of his car.
The sixth caution came on the 49th lap, when Takagi made contact with Moreno's car in turn three. Moreno spun, and Takagi's suspension broke, forcing him out. De Ferran and Tagliani pitted for fuel and tyres during that caution and reached the end without a second stop.
Castroneves led the restart on the 51st lap, followed by Fernandez, Brack and Dixon. Andretti moved up to fourth by lap 54 after restarting seventh. Castroneves was 4.8 seconds clear of Fernandez by the 60th lap.
Brack retired on lap 63 with a mechanical problem that drained his battery. Castroneves made a scheduled stop on lap 65 and rejoined in tenth, but his car began to smoke and he pulled over at turn eight. The seventh caution, on the 68th lap, allowed his car to be removed.
Gidley lost control exiting turn 11 on lap 73 and hit the outside wall. The ninth caution period was used to recover his car. Andretti led the restart on lap 76, and the tenth caution came after de Ferran ran onto the inside line at turn three and struck da Matta's front wing.
Da Matta, de Ferran and Jourdain Jr. all retired after that incident. Kanaan spun to avoid the stricken cars, but he kept going. Fernandez got past Junqueira for third on lap 82, and Zanardi moved up to sixth by the same lap.
On lap 87 Fittipaldi tried to pass Junqueira around the outside of turn three. They made contact, and both slid into the outside tyre barrier, which brought out the eleventh and final caution.
Racing resumed on lap 90 with Andretti pulling away from the field. Tagliani passed Fernandez for second, but he could not close the gap to Andretti because of Junqueira's lapped car. Kanaan ran dry on the last lap and coasted to a halt between turns three and four.
Why did Andretti win from 13th?
Andretti won with a strategy of four pit stops, which meant he did not have to conserve fuel. He had built a 4-second lead and held it through the final restarts, while his rivals had to manage their cars and tyres more carefully.
The win was his first and only victory of the 2001 season and his seventh at Toronto. It was also his 41st career win, and it gave him the most wins at a single CART event, a mark he had shared with Al Unser Jr. at six.
The result also advanced him to second in the championship, ten points behind Brack. Brack, who had retired with a mechanical problem, said that the retirement had hurt his title chances a little, and that such days happen in racing. He earned $100,000 for the victory and called it a perfect day for Team Motorola. Tagliani described the result as a good day for his team and wanted to build on recent form. Fernandez called it a great day but was disappointed about his final pit stop, which he felt had cost him a win. Zanardi was pleased with fourth, saying the weekend had been more fun than the previous round at Cleveland, and that his engineers were helping him build a competitive car despite poor qualifying.
| Position | Driver | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Andretti | Winner from 13th, four pit stops |
| 2 | Alex Tagliani | Second for Forsythe Racing |
| 3 | Adrian Fernandez | Third, disappointed by a late pit problem |
| 4 | Alex Zanardi | Fourth place |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | Fifth place |
What penalties followed the race?
Three days after the race, Paul Tracy and Tora Takagi were penalised by CART chief steward Chris Kneifel for an unacceptable risk and for triggering several yellow periods through contact with other cars. Each lost two championship points.
Both drivers were also put on probation for their next three road or street course races. Kneifel said the response was meant to send a clear message, and that points were harder to earn and more valuable than money.
How did the result change the standings?
Brack kept the Drivers' Championship lead with 83 points, while Andretti's win took him to second place. Castroneves dropped to third after his retirement, with Franchitti five points back. De Ferran slipped to fifth on 58.
In the Manufacturers' Championship, Honda kept the lead with 158 points, and Toyota remained second on 142, 12 points ahead of Ford Cosworth. In the United States the race went out live on ESPN, and the broadcast drew 726,000 on average, scoring 0.88 with a share of two. Toronto Star later rated Andretti's victory ninth among the top ten Indy Toronto races, in a 2015 ranking.
Castroneves retired with a mechanical problem, which dropped him to third in the standings behind Andretti and Brack. Franchitti also retired early with an oil pressure problem, a blow to his hopes of a strong result at the track.
