2001 CART Season Summary

[mac]

Here's my interpretation:

DRIVER OF THE YEAR:
Gil de Ferran - Others impressed, but Gil was the most competitive and most consistent all year.

CAR OF THE YEAR:
The Penske Reynard Honda - Penske's modifications to the Reynard chassis made it the cream of the Reynard crop, and it was the only chassis capable of consistently seriously challenging Lola on ovals.

RACE OF THE YEAR:
Michigan - And it's not going to be back next year. Other good races included Cleveland, Toronto, Rockingham and the American Memorial was brewing into an exciting climax until that fateful moment.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
Scott Dixon - Impressed with an early win at Nazareth, and just kept impressing through the rest of the year.

PASS OF THE YEAR:
A tie between 4:
- de Ferran on Brack at Rockingham on the last lap for the win. Brave and decisive. Around the outside on a difficult corner.
- Moreno on de Ferran for the win at Vancouver. This was at one of the fastest corners on any street track in the world. Perfectly executed case of opportunism.
- Brack on Castroneves at Chicago for the lead. Also brave. Helio left him less than a car-width, and Kenny got two wheels below the white line to pass.
- Zanardi's amazing double move at Toronto. Went down the outside of Tracy (I think) going into turn 3, before popping up the inside of Dixon (I think) at turn 5. Didn't it bring back some memories!?

TOP 10:
1) de Ferran.
2) Castroneves - occasionally went missing.
3) da Matta - proved his obvious talent, didn't get the package right mid-season.
4) Servia - impressive year in brand new, underfunded team.
5) Tagliani - showed more desire and aggression than teammate.
6) Dixon - one of the best REAL rookies for years.
7) Carpentier - better season this year.
8) Moreno - one win. Competitive for the most part. Had poor reliability, and made some mistakes.
9) Kanaan - fast all year. Team didn't get the deserved results.
10) Brack - struggled on some road tracks, but fast on ovals.

Vasser, Franchitti, Papis, Junqueira, Andretti, Fernandez and Tracy are next in line.

DISAPPOINTMENTS:
- The events that finished Alex Zanardi's career.
- Team KOOL Green.
- Ganassi.
- Fittipaldi (still).
- Takagi (I expected him to be better).
- Vasser (I thought he'd stick it up Chip this year).

QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
"We'd be better of with a circus clown." Paul Tracy. This and his burnout in the Penske pit also qualifies him as biggest idiot.

LUCKY ESCAPES:
Mauricio Gugelmin at Texas.
Roberto Moreno.
Memo Gidley at Elkhart Lake.
Bryan Herta at Elkhart Lake.
Alex Zanardi at Lausitz (could have lost a lot more than his legs).

LOWLIGHT OF THE YEAR:
- Alex Zanardi's horrendous crash at the end of the American Memorial.
- The tragic events that befell Mauricio Gugelmin at the start of the year.
- The woeful mismanagement of CART.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR:
The amazing resilliance, wonderful character and positive attitude of Alex Zanardi. He is one of the greatest champions CART racing has produced - for the way he raced, the way he conducts himself, and his philosophical and positive attitude. He proved to all what an amazing man he is, with his response to the plight he is in. The way he drew positives out of such a terrible situation, is an inspiration to us all. Thankyou Alessandro - for the enjoyment you have brought us over the years, and the way in which you managed to brighten everybody's lives. You will be sorely missed from racing, but never ever forgotten.

There you have it - my view.

[macdaddy]

Good job, Mac.
Must agree with you on most points, although my top-10 would be a bit different. Add Fontana to your list of great races, and don't forget Servia's "lucky escape" at Laguna.

[mac]

Oh, I forgot Oriol's car gymnastics. Definitely very fortunate.

I'd like to see other people's thoughts too, so if you've got different replies to different categories (ie. top 10 drivers), please share.

[f1manoz]

Okily, here's my view on CART season 2001:

Driver of the year:

Would like to have said Moreno, but realistically no-one could look past series champion Gil de Ferran. Although he started slowly, he was never off the pace and sowed the title up with a brilliant finish to the season.

Team of the year:

Although once again Penske were a centre of excellence, my award goes to Sigma Autosports. For a new team with a tight budget, the team and driver Servia produced some fantastic results. Hopefully they find some sponsorship next season.

Race of the year:

Both the 500 milers Michigan and Fontana. Who said oval racing was boring?

Rookie of the year:

Scott Dixon. Could it be anyone else? Besides the fact he won first out of all the rookies, he was consistently up the front, a superb tactician and racer. Future champion is written all over him.

Pass of the year:

Due to a bad memory, I'll choose Gil de Ferran's pass on the outside of the final corner on Kenny Brack to steal victory at Rockingham.

Top 10 Drivers (in no particular order):

Gil de Ferran
Cristiano da Matta - went missing mid-season but was always competitive
Michael Andretti - best season in years. Competitive nearly everywhere
Helio Castroneves - started brilliantly but after Indy seemed to lose the plot
Tony Kanaan - never gave up trying. Deserved better results.
Roberto Moreno - biased result Another great season from the 41 year old
Scott Dixon - great debut season. Rarely made mistakes and a win in only his third start
Oriol Servia - achieved some remarkable results in ordinary machinery. Star of the future
Patrick Carpentier - finally WON!!! And after that, couldn't be stopped
Alex Tagliani - deserved to win at least one race. Finally matured into a consistent racer

Special mention to:
Dario Franchitti - good and bad all season
Kenny Brack - oval king, but this ain't an all oval series pal!
Max Papis - shame if he doesn't get a seat but too inconsistent

Disappointments:

Paul Tracy - was he out there this year (apart from Laguna??)
Zanardi and his accident
The entire Ganassi outfit
The loss of the Texas round

Lucky Escapes:

Frankly, there was only one, and that was Zanardi. A weaker man would have been killed. He showed incredible strength and tenacity to come back from shocking injuries and still have the same fabulous zest for life. He is a model for us all to live our life by.

Highlights:

Personally, Moreno breaking down in tears on the radio when he won in Vancouver and giving the tribute to Greg was an emotional moment.
For pure comedy, Tracy's outburst at Laguna Seca. I laughed so hard!!
And as above, Zanardi's strength after the accident.


But the whole season has been a highlight. 25 top drivers racing in the most diverse series in the world. 20 great races mixed with triumph and tragedy. Could you ask for anything more from a racing series?

[Laagri]

I agree with most of the points that have been made, and that Gil de Ferran was overall the best driver of the whole season. But I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Kenny Bräck. A while ago (before Rockingham), I was sort of criticising the system for allowing Gil to be a real championship contender despite not having won a race. Liz rightly pointed out that the points system is the same for everyone and you just have to know how to use it. Gil does. And so you have to say that Kenny does pretty much too. He did come second overall, you know. He used his abilities, which are clearly greater on ovals than on road courses, to the best that he could, and still came second. Despite Ron Dennis saying second is first of the losers, it's still not all that bad and definitely warrants a place in the top 10 of the season. Next year, when the proportion of ovals is a little reduced, it may be a different story. But of course, next year Kenny may not have to go up against Gil.....

Who else stood out for me this year, besides Gil and Kenny?
Dixon stood out for not really standing out that much at all yet often picking up a heap of points. He is surely the new Mr Consistency.
Da Matta was good, shame about the team in the mid-season.
Franchitti made a few mistakes but was awfully unlucky as well.
And Carpentier and Tagliani were amazing in the second half of the season.

Disappointments:
Fittipaldi and Fernandez were both expectedly disappointing (CF because he always is and AF because of running his own team).
Zanardi (no honestly, he had been a disappointment, hadn't he? Don't flame me - he's my favourite CART driver ever, but this year, except for two or three races, he did not perform well).
Ganassi as a team, including all three drivers.
Gugelmin (where was he compared to Dixon?)
Papis (amazing at Portland, Michigan and Fontana, OK in Germany, extremely lucky at Laguna Seca, absolutely awful pretty much everywhere else)

Highlights:
Cleveland, Michigan and, until you know what, Lausitzring

Lowlights:
Zanardi's accident in Germany
Papis' ridiculous win at Laguna Seca
The unnecessary length of the vast majority of yellow flag periods throughout the year
Backmarkers' constant pitting under yellow subsequently being hailed as 'great strategy' when they get a good result because of it

As a whole, I've enjoyed the year, although it has infuriated me at times. I just hope it's still around for us all to enjoy next year.