2003 CART season

2003 CART season
Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford
Season
Races 19 18
Start date February 23
End date November 9 October 26
Awards
Drivers' champion Canada Paul Tracy
Constructors' Cup United Kingdom Lola
Manufacturers' Cup United States / United Kingdom Ford-Cosworth
Nations' Cup Canada Canada
Rookie of the Year France Sébastien Bourdais
Chronology
Previous season Next season
2002 2004 (CCWS)

The 2003 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, the twenty-fifth and final in the CART era of American open wheel racing, consisted of 18 races, beginning in St. Petersburg, Florida on February 23 and concluding in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia on October 26.

The intended final event, scheduled to be held in Fontana, California on November 9 was canceled due to wildfires, one of which was known as the "Grand Prix Fire", burning in and around San Bernardino County.

The Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Drivers' Champion was Paul Tracy. Rookie of the Year was Sébastien Bourdais. At the end of the season, the operations of a now bankrupt CART were assumed by Open Wheel Racing Series, who later rebranded themselves as the Champ Car World Series.

Drivers and teams

With the departure of Honda and Toyota to the Indy Racing League for the 2003 season, Cosworth became the exclusive engine supplier for the CART series. Their 2.65L XFE turbo V8 powerplant continued to be badged by Ford. Bridgestone continued on as exclusive tire supplier for the series. A marketing agreement between CART and the two suppliers rebranded the series as Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford.[1]

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2003 Champ Car World Series season.

Team Chassis No Drivers Races
United States Newman/Haas Racing Lola B02/00 1 Brazil Bruno Junqueira All
2 France Sébastien Bourdais All
United States Team Player's Lola B02/00 3 Canada Paul Tracy All
32 Canada Patrick Carpentier All
Mexico Herdez Competition Lola B02/00 4 Brazil Roberto Moreno 1-16, 18
Mexico Roberto González 17
55 Mexico Mario Domínguez All
United States Walker Racing Reynard 02I 5 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín All
15 United Kingdom Darren Manning All
25 Mexico Luis Díaz 17
United States Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing Reynard 02I 7 Portugal Tiago Monteiro All
United States Team Rahal Lola B02/00 9 Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. All
United States Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 11 Mexico Roberto González 1
Malaysia Alex Yoong 2-5
Brazil Gualter Salles 6
United States Geoff Boss 7-18
19 Switzerland Joël Camathias 1-7
Brazil Gualter Salles 8-9, 11-15, 17-18
Brazil Alex Sperafico 10, 16
United States American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard 02I 12 United States Jimmy Vasser All
31 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay All
United States Patrick Racing Lola B02/00 20 Spain Oriol Servià All
United States PK Racing Lola B02/00 27 France Patrick Lemarié 1-6
United States Bryan Herta 7
Italy Max Papis 8-14
Finland Mika Salo 15-18
United States Rocketsports Racing Lola B02/00 33 Canada Alex Tagliani All
United States Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard 02I 34 Brazil Mario Haberfeld All
Mexico Fernández Racing Lola B02/00 51 Mexico Adrián Fernández All

Team changes

With the departure of Honda and Toyota to the Indy Racing League for the 2003 season, four CART teams joined them in the rival series as well. Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Green Racing (a merger of the former Team Green and Michael Andretti's Team Motorola) and Mo Nunn Racing became full-time IRL competitors for the 2003 season. Meanwhile, Mi-Jack Conquest Racing went against flow and jumped from the IRL to CART.[2] Team Rahal and Fernández Racing split their efforts between the two series, each reducing their Champ Car teams to a single car. Dale Coyne Racing returned to full-time status after a partial season effort in 2002.

Four new teams joined the series. Businessman Kevin Kalkhoven and Craig Pollock, who previously managed the British American Racing Formula One team, started the PK Racing team.[3] Long-time Trans-Am competitor Paul Gentilozzi expanded his Rocketsports Racing team to include a Champ Car effort.[4] Kalkhoven and Gentilozzi would go on to become two of the owners of the series in 2004 after the CART organization went bankrupt. Formula One and Champ Car champion Emerson Fittipaldi and businessman Jamie Dingman formed Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing[5] while Formula One and Champ Car veteran Stefan Johansson formed American Spirit Team Johansson.[6]

Driver changes

Along with the major changes to the team lineup to the series, a great many new faces made their debut in 2003. Of the nineteen drivers at the season opener in St. Petersburg, nine were rookies. Most notable was 2002 Formula 3000 champion Sébastien Bourdais who joined Newman/Haas Racing. Bourdais would impress immediately by taking pole in his first race, winning his fourth race, and finishing fourth in the season championship. Walker Racing had a lineup of two rookies, Rodolfo Lavín and Darren Manning, who actually debuted at the 2002 race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway in England but was still considered a series rookie. Three rookie teams campaigned with rookie drivers. Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing ran Tiago Monteiro, Mi-Jack Conquest Racing chose Mario Haberfeld, while PK Racing began the year with Patrick Lemarié.

Familiar Champ Car drivers also found themselves in new surroundings for 2003. With Chip Ganassi Racing gone to the IRL, Bruno Junqueira took over the #1 car at Newman-Haas, replacing Cristiano da Matta who moved on to Formula One after winning the 2002 CART season. With Team Green also gone to the IRL, Paul Tracy moved over to Team Player's. Tracy would reward his new team with the season championship. Alex Tagliani lost his Player's seat to Tracy but found a ride with the new Rocketsports Racing team. Champ Car's elder statesman Jimmy Vasser joined the new American Spirit Team Johansson team after Team Rahal downsized to a single car. His teammate there was series rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay. Herdez Competition tabbed veteran Roberto Moreno for their expanded two car team.

The list of drivers not changing teams was short. Patrick Carpentier at Player's, Mario Domínguez at Herdez, Michel Jourdain, Jr. at Team Rahal, Oriol Servia at Patrick Racing, and Adrian Fernández continued to drive his own car.

Mid-season changes

Races

Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date
1 United States Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Albert Whitted Airport St. Petersburg, Florida February 23
2 Mexico Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Fundidora Park Monterrey, Mexico March 23
3 United States Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 13
4 United Kingdom The London Champ Car Trophy Brands Hatch Longfield, United Kingdom May 5
5 Germany German 500 EuroSpeedway Lausitz Klettwitz, Germany May 11
6 United States Milwaukee Mile 250 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin May 31
7 United States Grand Prix of Monterey Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California June 15
8 United States The G.I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 22
9 United States US Bank presents the Cleveland Grand Prix Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 5
10 Canada Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 13
11 Canada Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia July 27
12 United States Mario Andretti Grand Prix at Road America Presented by Briggs & Stratton Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 3
13 United States Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 10
14 Canada Molson Indy Montreal Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Montreal, Quebec August 24
15 United States Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver Streets of Denver Denver, Colorado August 31
16 United States Grand Prix Americas Presented by Sportsbook.com Miami Bayfront Park Street Circuit Miami, Florida September 28
17 Mexico Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante Presented by Banamex/VISA Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Mexico City, Mexico October 12
18 Australia Lexmark Indy 300 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia October 26
19 United States King Taco 500 California Speedway Fontana, California November 9
  Oval/Speedway
  Road Course/Street Circuit

Full Series Results

Race Results

Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report
1 United States Grand Prix of St. Petersburg France Sébastien Bourdais France Sébastien Bourdais Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
2 Mexico Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey France Sébastien Bourdais Brazil Bruno Junqueira Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
3 United States Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
4 United Kingdom The London Champ Car Trophy Canada Paul Tracy Mexico Adrián Fernández France Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
5 Germany German 500 France Sébastien Bourdais Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. France Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
6 United States Milwaukee Mile 250 Canada Alex Tagliani Canada Patrick Carpentier Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. Team Rahal Report
7 United States Grand Prix of Monterey Canada Patrick Carpentier Canada Patrick Carpentier Canada Patrick Carpentier Team Player's Report
8 United States The G.I. Joe's 200 Canada Paul Tracy Canada Alex Tagliani Mexico Adrián Fernández Fernández Racing Report
9 United States US Bank presents the Cleveland Grand Prix France Sébastien Bourdais France Sébastien Bourdais France Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing Report
10 Canada Molson Indy Toronto Canada Paul Tracy Canada Paul Tracy Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
11 Canada Molson Indy Vancouver Canada Paul Tracy France Sébastien Bourdais Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
12 United States Mario Andretti Grand Prix at Road America Brazil Bruno Junqueira France Sébastien Bourdais Brazil Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing Report
13 United States Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Canada Paul Tracy United States Jimmy Vasser Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
14 Canada Molson Indy Montreal Canada Alex Tagliani Brazil Bruno Junqueira Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. Team Rahal Report
15 United States Grand Prix of Denver Brazil Bruno Junqueira Brazil Mario Haberfeld Brazil Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing Report
16 United States Grand Prix Americas Presented by Sportsbook.com Mexico Adrián Fernández Mexico Adrián Fernández Mexico Mario Domínguez Herdez Competition Report
17 Mexico Gran Premio Telmex-Gigante Presented by Banamex/VISA Canada Paul Tracy United States Ryan Hunter-Reay Canada Paul Tracy Team Player's Report
18 Australia Lexmark Indy 300 France Sébastien Bourdais Brazil Roberto Moreno United States Ryan Hunter-Reay American Spirit Team Johansson Report
19 United States King Taco 500 Report

Final driver standings

Pos Driver STP United States MTY Mexico LBH United States BRH United Kingdom LAU Germany MIL United States LAG United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada VAN Canada ROA United States MDO United States MTL Canada DEN United States MIA United States MEX Mexico SUR Australia Pts
1 Canada Paul Tracy 1* 1* 1 17 12 12 3 2* 2* 1* 1* 15 1* 6 4 16 1* 13 226
2 Brazil Bruno Junqueira 3 5 3 2 4 17 2 4 3 3 2 1* 13 13 1* 9 7 15* 199
3 Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. 2 2 15* 6 3 1* 4 12 7 2 4 16 4 1 6 7 4 4 195
4 France Sébastien Bourdais 11 17 16 1* 1* 9 17 14 1 4 3 2 5 19 2 17 2 17 159
5 Canada Patrick Carpentier 8 8 6 5 7 3 1* 16 4 7 13 5 2 3 17 6 14 5 146
6 Mexico Mario Domínguez 14 13 5 3 2 8 10 10 5 12 10 14 16 5 7 1 3 10 118
7 Spain Oriol Servià 12 18 12 4 5 2 6 5 6 5 16 18 18 2 3 19 13 19 108
8 Mexico Adrián Fernández 15 4 2 12 15 6 7 1 11 9 12 12 7 8 5 8* 8 12 105
9 United Kingdom Darren Manning 13 7 8 10 6 4 18 6 10 8 5 6 8 10 8 11 9 2 103
10 Canada Alex Tagliani 19 3 10 8 18 5 14 3 8 17 14 3 6 4* 9 13 16 7 97
11 United States Jimmy Vasser 6 14 4 19 8 11 8 7 13 13 11 9 15 16 11 4 17 3 72
12 Brazil Mario Haberfeld 4 16 9 9 14 7 5 8 15 19 7 8 10 11 10 5 12 14 71
13 Brazil Roberto Moreno 5 6 17 7 10 19 15 9 18 6 17 7 19 7 16 2 16 67
14 United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 16 12 7 16 11 16 12 17 9 11 6 10 3 17 15 12 11 1 64
15 Portugal Tiago Monteiro 7 19 11 14 13 10 9 19 Wth 10 15 17 11 18 13 15 6 18 29
16 Finland Mika Salo 14 3 5 11 26
17 Italy Max Papis 15 12 16 9 4 9 9 25
18 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín 18 15 18 15 9 14 19 11 14 15 8 19 12 15 19 18 18 8 17
19 Brazil Gualter Salles 13 18 17 DNS 11 17 12 18 15 6 11
20 United States Geoff Boss 16 13 16 14 DNS 13 14 14 12 10 20 9 8
21 France Patrick Lemarié 10 10 13 11 19 18 8
22 Switzerland Joël Camathias 9 11 14 13 16 15 13 6
23 Malaysia Alex Yoong 9 19 18 17 4
24 Mexico Roberto González 17 10 3
25 United States Bryan Herta 11 2
26 Brazil Alex Sperafico 18 14 0
27 Mexico Luis Díaz 19 0
Pos Driver STP United States MTY Mexico LBH United States BRH United Kingdom LAU Germany MIL United States LAG United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada VAN Canada ROA United States MDO United States MTL Canada DEN United States MIA United States MEX Mexico SUR Australia Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th-10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Point Scoring System:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Points 20 16 14 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus Points:

Nation's Cup

Pos Country STP United States MTY Mexico LBH United States BRH United Kingdom LAU Germany MIL United States LAG United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada VAN Canada ROA United States MDO United States MTL Canada DEN United States MIA United States MEX Mexico SUR Australia Pts
1 Canada Canada 1 1 1 5 7 3 1 2 2 1 1 3 1 3 4 6 1 5 298
2 Mexico Mexico 2 2 2 3 2 1 4 1 5 2 4 12 4 1 5 1 3 4 262
3 Brazil Brazil 3 5 3 2 4 7 2 4 3 3 2 1 10 7 1 2 7 6 228
4 France France 10 10 13 1 1 9 17 14 1 4 3 2 5 19 2 17 2 17 161
5 United States United States 6 12 4 16 8 11 8 7 9 11 6 9 3 14 11 4 11 1 107
6 Spain Spain 12 18 12 4 5 2 6 5 6 5 16 18 18 2 3 19 13 19 106
7 England England 13 7 8 10 6 4 18 6 10 8 5 6 8 10 8 11 9 2 103
8 Portugal Portugal 7 19 11 14 13 10 9 19 Wth 10 15 17 11 18 13 15 6 18 28
9 Finland Finland 14 3 5 11 26
10 Italy Italy 15 12 16 9 4 9 9 25
11 Switzerland Switzerland 9 11 14 13 16 15 13 6
12 Malaysia Malaysia 9 19 18 17 4
Pos Country STP United States MTY Mexico LBH United States BRH United Kingdom LAU Germany MIL United States LAG United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada VAN Canada ROA United States MDO United States MTL Canada DEN United States MIA United States MEX Mexico SUR Australia Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos Chassis Pts
1 United Kingdom Lola 387
2 United Kingdom Reynard 161
Pos Chassis Pts

Driver Breakdown

Pos Driver Team Entries Wins Podiums Top 5's Top 10's Poles Laps Lead Points
1 Canada Tracy United States Team Player's 18 7 10 11 12 6 658 226
2 Brazil Junqueira United States Newman-Haas Racing 18 2 9 12 14 2 184 199
3 Mexico Jourdain, Jr. United States Team Rahal 18 2 6 11 15 1 350 195
4 France Bourdais (R) United States Newman-Haas Racing 18 3 7 9 10 5 254 159
5 Canada Carpentier United States Team Player's 18 1 4 8 14 1 107 146
6 Mexico Domínguez Mexico Herdez Competition 18 1 4 7 13 -- 76 118
7 Spain Servià United States Patrick Racing 18 -- 3 7 9 -- 37 108
8 Mexico Fernández Mexico Fernández Racing 18 1 2 4 11 1 123 105
9 United Kingdom Manning (R) United States Walker Racing 18 -- 1 3 15 -- 4 103
10 Canada Tagliani United States Rocketsports Racing 18 -- 3 5 11 1* 70 97
11 United States Vasser United States American Spirit Team Johansson 18 -- 1 3 8 -- 18 72
12 Brazil Haberfeld (R) United States Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 18 -- -- 3 11 -- -- 71
13 Brazil Moreno Mexico Herdez Competition 17 -- 1 2 9 -- 6 67
14 United States Hunter-Reay (R) United States American Spirit Team Johansson 18 1 2 2 6 -- 15 64
15 Portugal Monteiro (R) United States Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing 18 -- -- -- 5 -- 14 29
16 Finland Salo (R) United States PK Racing 4 -- 1 2 2 -- 6 26
17 Italy Papis United States PK Racing 7 -- -- 1 4 -- -- 25
18 Mexico Lavín (R) United States Walker Racing 18 -- -- -- 3 -- -- 17
19 Brazil Salles United States Dale Coyne Racing 9 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 11
20 United States Boss (R) United States Dale Coyne Racing 11 -- -- -- 2 -- -- 8
21 France Lemarié (R) United States PK Racing 6 -- -- -- 2 -- -- 8
22 Switzerland Camathias (R) United States Dale Coyne Racing 7 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 6
23 Malaysia Yoong (R) United States Dale Coyne Racing 4 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 4
24 Mexico Roberto González (R) Mexico Herdez Competition
United States Dale Coyne Racing
2 -- -- -- 1 -- -- 3
25 United States Herta United States PK Racing 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 2
26 Brazil Sperafico (R) United States Dale Coyne Racing 2 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0
27 Mexico Díaz (R) United States Walker Racing 1 -- -- -- -- -- -- 0

* Alex Tagliani started on pole at Milwaukee but was not awarded the bonus point for it when the qualification session was rained out. The grid was set by practice times. This result is not counted in Tagliani's season total in this table.

See also

Notes

  1. "Ford increases their stake in CART". motorsport.com. 2002-11-21. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
  2. "Conquest Racing joins Champ Car Series". motorsport.com. 2002-12-23. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  3. "Pollock, Kalkhoven form Champ Car team". motorsport.com. 2003-01-15. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  4. "Gentilozzi to own CART team in 2003". motorsport.com. 2002-11-16. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  5. "Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing, driver Monteiro enter Champ Car series". motorsport.com. 2003-02-10. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  6. "Johansson forms two car CART team". motorsport.com. 2002-12-20. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  7. "Former F1 driver Yoong joins Dale Coyne Racing". motorsport.com. 2003-03-21. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  8. "Yoong steps down at Dale Coyne Racing". motorsport.com. 2003-05-26. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  9. "Herta replaces PK Racing's rookie for Laguna". motorsport.com. 2003-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  10. "'Mad Max' Papis returns to Champ Car competition". motorsport.com. 2003-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  11. "Dale Coyne Racing signs Geoff Boss". motorsport.com. 2003-06-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  12. "Toronto: Round ten preview". motorsport.com. 2003-07-08. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  13. "Salo to debut at Denver". motorsport.com. 2003-08-27. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  14. "Walker Racing add Luis Diaz to team's Mexico City lineup". motorsport.com. 2003-09-30. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

References

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