# 2001 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey

25°40′41″N 100°17′00″W﻿ / ﻿25.67806°N 100.28333°W﻿ / 25.67806; -100.28333
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

March 10, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds :
| Rank | Driver | Time | Leader | Speed (mph) | Team |
| 1 | Kenny Bräck | 1:15.244 | – | 100.665 | Team Rahal |
| 2 | Cristiano da Matta | 1:15.439 | +0.195 | 100.404 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 3 | Gil de Ferran | 1:15.551 | +0.307 | 100.255 | Team Penske |
| 4 | Hélio Castroneves | 1:15.580 | +0.336 | 100.217 | Team Penske |
| 5 | Michael Andretti | 1:16.104 | +0.860 | 99.527 | Team Motorola |
| 6 | Patrick Carpentier | 1:16.353 | +1.109 | 99.202 | Forsythe Racing |
| 7 | Dario Franchitti | 1:16.375 | +1.131 | 99.174 | Team Green |
| 8 | Oriol Servià | 1:16.44 | +1.200 | 99.084 | Sigma Autosport |
| 9 | Jimmy Vasser | 1:16.456 | +1.212 | 99.069 | Patrick Racing |
| 10 | Roberto Moreno | 1:16.484 | +1.240 | 99.032 | Patrick Racing |
| 11 | Max Papis | 1:16.512 | +1.268 | 98.996 | Team Rahal |
| 12 | Tony Kanaan | 1:16.647 | +1.403 | 98.822 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 13 | Alex Tagliani | 1:16.716 | +1.472 | 98.733 | Forsythe Racing |
| 14 | Scott Dixon (R) | 1:16.826 | +1.582 | 98.592 | PacWest Racing |
| 15 | Paul Tracy | 1:16.909 | +1.665 | 98.485 | Team Green |
| 16 | Christian Fittipaldi | 1:16.937 | +1.693 | 98.449 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | 1:17.005 | +1.761 | 98.362 | PacWest Racing |
| 18 | Bryan Herta | 1:17.137 | +1.893 | 98.194 | Forsythe Racing |
| 19 | Adrian Fernández | 1:17.270 | +2.026 | 98.025 | Fernandez Racing |
| 20 | Bruno Junqueira (R) | 1:17.505 | +2.261 | 97.728 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 21 | Nicolas Minassian (R) | 1:17.750 | +2.326 | 97.646 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 22 | Alex Zanardi | 1:17.851 | +2.607 | 97.294 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 23 | Michael Krumm | 1:17.914 | +2.670 | 97.215 | Dale Coyne Racing |
| 24 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | 1:18.381 | +3.137 | 96.636 | Bettenhausen Racing |
| 25 | Tora Takagi | 1:18.991 | +3.747 | 95.889 | Walker Motorsport |
| 26 | Max Wilson (R) | 1:19.294 | +4.050 | 95.523 | Arciero Racing |
| 27 | Shinji Nakano | 1:19.362 | +4.118 | 95.441 | Fernandez Racing |
| 28 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | 1:20.931 | +5.687 | 93.591 | Dale Coyne Racing |
| Source: ||||||

## Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 6 | Cristiano da Matta | Newman-Haas Racing | 78 | 2:00:44.856 | 2 | 21 |
| 2 | 1 | Gil de Ferran | Team Penske | 78 | +1.982 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 78 | +2.802 | 15 | 14 |
| 4 | 39 | Michael Andretti | Team Motorola | 78 | +4.931 | 5 | 12 |
| 5 | 8 | Kenny Bräck | Team Rahal | 78 | +5.411 | 1 | 11 |
| 6 | 40 | Jimmy Vasser | Patrick Racing | 78 | +5.710 | 9 | 8 |
| 7 | 55 | Tony Kanaan | Mo Nunn Racing | 78 | +6.375 | 12 | 6 |
| 8 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | 78 | +7.244 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 78 | +7.580 | 7 | 4 |
| 10 | 5 | Tora Takagi (R) | Walker Motorsport | 78 | +17.457 | 25 | 3 |
| 11 | 12 | Nicolas Minassian (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | 78 | +24.227 | 21 | 2 |
| 12 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 78 | +24.981 | 11 | 1 |
| 13 | 18 | Scott Dixon (R) | PacWest Racing | 78 | +31.435 | 14 | — |
| 14 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Sigma Autosport | 78 | +32.354 | 8 | — |
| 15 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 78 | +32.733 | 17 | — |
| 16 | 77 | Bryan Herta | Forsythe Racing | 78 | +33.745 | 18 | — |
| 17 | 16 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Bettenhausen Racing | 78 | +34.376 | 24 | — |
| 18 | 52 | Shinji Nakano | Fernandez Racing | 76 | +2 Laps | 27 | — |
| 19 | 51 | Adrian Fernández | Fernandez Racing | 75 | Out of fuel | 19 | — |
| 20 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 66 | Contact | 16 | — |
| 21 | 33 | Alex Tagliani | Forsythe Racing | 60 | Overheating | 13 | — |
| 22 | 4 | Bruno Junqueira (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | 57 | Water leak | 20 | — |
| 23 | 19 | Michael Krumm | Dale Coyne Racing | 51 | Mechanical | 23 | — |
| 24 | 66 | Alex Zanardi | Mo Nunn Racing | 39 | Contact | 22 | — |
| 25 | 32 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 38 | Electrical | 6 | — |
| 26 | 21 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Dale Coyne Racing | 37 | Mechanical | 28 | — |
| 27 | 20 | Roberto Moreno | Patrick Racing | 21 | Contact | 10 | — |
| 28 | 25 | Max Wilson (R) | Arciero Racing | 7 | Contact | 26 | — |
| Source: ||||||||

### Notes

* – Includes one bonus point for leading the most laps.
* – Includes one bonus point for being the fastest qualifier.

## Race statistics

* Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders :
| 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 :
| Leader | Laps |
| Cristiano da Matta | 32 |
| Kenny Bräck | 28 |
| Scott Dixon | 14 |
| Dario Franchitti | 4 |
Cautions: 3 for 16 laps :
| Laps | Reason |
| 9-13 | Max Wilson crashes |
| 22-27 | Roberto Moreno crashes |
| 68-72 | Christian Fittipaldi crashes |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Cristiano da Matta | 21 |
| 2 | Gil de Ferran | 16 |
| 3 | Paul Tracy | 14 |
| 4 | Michael Andretti | 12 |
| 5 | Kenny Bräck | 11 |
| Pos | +/– | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | | Lola | 21 |
| 2 | | Reynard | 16 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Toyota | 21 |
| 2 | Honda | 16 |
| 3 | Ford-Cosworth | 11 |
| 4 | Phoenix | 0 |