A Forsythe front row, a string of crashes and a race timed short after 98 laps, with Roberto Moreno taking his second and final CART win for Patrick Racing.
This CART round in Vancouver, held on 2 September 2001, was the 15th of that season. Moreno won the race, which the clock cut short after 98 laps, five seconds ahead of Gil de Ferran, while Michael Andretti took third.
The 2001 Molson Indy Vancouver was a round of the CART open-wheel series, held on 2 September 2001 at Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver, British Columbia. Roberto Moreno won the race, cut short by time, five seconds ahead of Gil de Ferran, with Michael Andretti third. It was the 15th round of the 2001 CART season and was ended by the clock after 98 of its scheduled 100 laps.
The race was marked by multiple incidents and crashes, and Alex Tagliani led the most laps from pole before his engine failed. For Moreno it was a second and final CART victory, and it also gave Patrick Racing its last win in open-wheel racing before the team folded in 2004.
What was the background to the 2001 Molson Indy Vancouver?
Vancouver was the second Canadian stop of the 2001 CART season, after Toronto. Rookie Bruno Junqueira had won at Road America the previous weekend, and Michael Andretti was pursuing the championship after several retirements. Defending champion Gil de Ferran was rising up the standings after three top-five finishes and a Mid-Ohio pole, and Helio Castroneves led the points narrowly over Kenny Brack.
The biggest story heading into the weekend was Forsythe Racing. Alex Tagliani had taken his first career podium in Toronto, and Patrick Carpentier had scored his first win at Michigan. Both drivers had scored points in every race since, and Carpentier added two more podiums. Analysts expected the Canadian pair to keep their momentum on home soil.
CART also announced a three-year extension for the Vancouver race. The 2002 season was set to include three Canadian rounds, after Montreal was confirmed to host the series at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
A timed street race in Vancouver, with a Forsythe front row, six lead changes and one final win for Patrick Racing.
How did practice and qualifying go?
Qualifying produced an all-Canadian front row. Tagliani took provisional pole at 1:00.872, and Carpentier was second at 1:00.924 before he slid into the barrier at Turn 6 and stalled. De Ferran started third at 1:00.933, and the top four cars were separated by less than one-hundredth of a second. De Ferran was unhappy with his lap, saying he had too much oversteer and had messed up one of the last three corners.
Friday morning practice was run in dry conditions, although the forecast had called for showers. Clouds built over the city during Friday's afternoon session, but no rain fell on the track. Several drivers reported grip problems on the slick temporary circuit, the worst at the 90-degree Turn 1. Tony Kanaan led the time sheets at 1:01.958, ahead of Cristiano da Matta at 1:01.968 and de Ferran at 1:02.302. Junqueira later hit the wall at Turn 10 and brought out a red flag, and Tagliani set the quickest lap of the day at 1:01.230. Dario Franchitti stalled twice with fuel-pressure trouble in the first session, and Max Wilson nudged the Turn 12 barrier.
Rain fell on Friday night and soaked the track before Saturday, leaving standing water between Turns 8 and 12. Castroneves was quickest of the weekend in Saturday morning practice at 1:00.742, the first driver to dip below the 1:01 mark. When qualifying began the track had dried. Junqueira topped Group 1 at 1:01.194, while in Group 2 da Matta crashed at Turn 12 and Moreno lost power and retired his car. Max Papis was second in Group 1 at 1:01.668 and Adrian Fernandez third at 1:01.711. Tracy later crashed at Turn 7 and damaged his front suspension, and officials ended the session with the red-and-checkered flag.
Tagliani's pole was his second in CART and his first on a street course. He received the Greg Moore Pole Trophy from Ric Moore, the father of the Vancouver favourite who was killed in the 1999 Marlboro 500 at Fontana. It was also the first all-Forsythe front row since Milwaukee in 1998.
How did the race unfold?
The green flag waved just after 2:00 pm. Junqueira clipped the front of Paul Tracy at the start and spun, and Castroneves made contact with Brack at Turn 3 and was forced off track and stalled. A full-course caution was needed to get him restarted, and he went a lap down.
On lap 5 Moreno passed Brack for fourth after starting seventh. Tagliani had built a five-second gap over Carpentier by lap 15. Moreno then took third from de Ferran on lap 24, when Castroneves stopped on the straight with an electrical problem and brought out the second caution. When the field pitted under that yellow, only Scott Dixon, Memo Gidley and Max Wilson stayed out, which put Dixon second and Gidley fourth. Castroneves restarted three laps down.
Tracy retired after a collision with da Matta on lap 30, and Wilson retired with a mechanical problem one lap later. Around lap 41 Dixon collided with Tora Takagi at Turn 6, and Alex Zanardi hit the tire barriers at Turn 7, spilling water across the track. Zanardi's retirement was his seventh DNF of the season, the most of any driver in the series. Officials used jet dryers during the caution, but the cleanup took longer than expected because water kept seeping back from the barrier.
When racing resumed on lap 51, Takagi, one lap down, tried to pass Tagliani, and the pair raced ahead of the field while Brack and Moreno kept pace with Carpentier. On lap 69 Tagliani, who had reported a strange noise earlier, pulled off course from the lead as a large plume of smoke rose from his car. The engine had let go, ending a race that had looked to be his first career win. Moreno inherited the lead but gave it to da Matta one lap later.
Papis then slammed the wall at Turn 4, and the full-course yellow followed. The impact destroyed the car's right-side suspension and ended his race. Da Matta, Franchitti and Vasser each took fuel and tyres under the yellow, but CART officials penalised all three for pitting when the pits were closed, and sent them to the back of the queue. Gugelmin led the field after the stops.
On lap 80 de Ferran braked hard on the inside at Turn 1 and forced Moreno wide to take second. De Ferran then passed Gugelmin on the back straight to take the lead. At Turn 6 da Matta tangled with Takagi and was sent into the tire barriers, and the yellow came out again to clear the track.
When racing resumed on lap 85, Brack ran into the back of Carpentier and sent both cars off track. Carpentier suffered a flat right rear tyre and had to limp back to the pits, dropping a lap down. Brack fell from fifth to eighth as a result of the incident. Shortly afterwards Vasser punted the back of Christian Fittipaldi and retired. Andretti and Kanaan passed Gugelmin as he struggled, but the race stayed under green.
On lap 87 officials announced that the race would be timed. It finished after two hours, with 98 of the scheduled 100 laps covered. On lap 89 Moreno passed de Ferran for the lead with less than ten minutes remaining and pulled clear to take the chequered flag.
What were the key figures from the race?
The race finished with six lead changes among six drivers, and the table below sets out the core figures for the event, including the winner, the front of the grid and the final laps.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | 2 September 2001, Concord Pacific Place, Vancouver |
| Round | 15th of the 2001 CART season |
| Scheduled laps | 100 |
| Laps completed | 98, timed finish after two hours |
| Winner | Roberto Moreno, five seconds ahead of Gil de Ferran |
| Third place | Michael Andretti |
| Pole position | Alex Tagliani, 1:00.872 |
| Second on grid | Patrick Carpentier, 1:00.924 |
| Lead changes | Six, among six drivers |
What was the result, and why did it matter?
Moreno won the race, his second and final CART victory. It was also the last win for Patrick Racing before the team folded in 2004. De Ferran took his fifth podium of 2001, which moved him into the points lead, while Andretti scored his sixth podium at Vancouver.
Moreno circled the track in a victory lap, performing donuts on the start-finish straight and celebrating in victory lane with his team, the Brazilian flag over his shoulders. Andretti was pleased with a podium that extended his strong run of finishes in Canada, and he went on to score another podium at Surfer's Paradise later in the season.
Moreno was the sixth different winner at Vancouver in six years, The win was also Toyota's first of the year on a street circuit. He picked up only two points at Surfer's Paradise, for pole position, and he failed to finish five of the last six races.
Moreno was dropped by Patrick Racing for 2002. He returned to CART in 2003 with Herdez Competition and scored one final career podium at Miami. De Ferran went on to win two races and the season championship.
The race was Alex Zanardi's final start before a career-ending crash two weeks later at the 2001 American Memorial in Germany.
What did the result mean for the points race?
De Ferran's second place moved him into first in the drivers' standings, ahead of his Team Penske teammate Castroneves. He had still not won for Team Penske that season, so the result was an important step. Andretti's podium was his fourth of the year and his sixth at Vancouver.
Moreno's victory was his second and last in CART. De Ferran's points lead came from a result that kept his title hopes firmly alive for the rest of the season.