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2001 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston

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Race details
Race 18 of 21 in the 2001 CART season
Track layout.
October 7, 2001
2001 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston
George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, Texas, United States
Temporary street course1.527 mi / 2.457 km
100 laps152.7 mi / 245.7 km
Gil de Ferran (Team Penske)
59.421
Jimmy Vasser (Patrick Racing)
1:00.928 (on lap 75 of 100)
Gil de Ferran (Team Penske)
Dario Franchitti (Team Green)
Memo Gidley (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 2001 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on October 7, 2001 on the streets of Houston, Texas, USA. It was the 18th round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season. Gil de Ferran took his second win of the season for Team Penske after starting on pole position and leading every lap ahead of Dario Franchitti and Memo Gidley.

de Ferran inherited the lead of the drivers' standings from Kenny Bräck by virtue of his win here and at the previous race at Rockingham, a lead he would not relinquish for the rest of the season. The difficult road course on the streets of Houston meant that little on-track passing could occur, and de Ferran's position throughout the race was rarely in jeopardy. Franchitti was one of the few that could muscle his way through the field despite being hit by Hélio Castroneves at the start of the race, taking his third podium finish at Houston in four starts and his third podium of the season. Gidley, after starting 23rd, used pit strategy to move his way through the field and take his second podium of the season and his career.

The race saw multiple incidents and crashes as drivers struggled around the temporary circuit. Alex Tagliani, despite running near the front for the entire race, crashed from 2nd place with just seven laps remaining. Oriol Servià and Michel Jourdain Jr. also crashed on Lap 37, with Servià's car ending up on top of Jourdain's.

This was the final time CART would race at this track configuration in Houston; the series would return in 2006 and 2007 using a temporary circuit at NRG Park, while the IndyCar Series would race in Houston from 2013-2014.

October 6, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds
Gil de Ferran	59.421	—	92.513	Team Penske
Bruno Junqueira (R)	59.943	+0.522	91.707	Chip Ganassi Racing
Kenny Bräck	59.947	+0.526	91.701	Team Rahal
Hélio Castroneves	1:00.063	+0.642	91.524	Team Penske
Alex Tagliani	1:00.191	+0.770	91.329	Forsythe Racing
Dario Franchitti	1:00.433	+1.012	90.964	Team Green
Scott Dixon (R)	1:00.446	+1.025	90.944	PacWest Racing
Cristiano da Matta	1:00.491	+1.070	90.876	Newman-Haas Racing
Maurício Gugelmin	1:00.502	+1.081	90.860	PacWest Racing
Tony Kanaan	1:00.548	+1.127	90.791	Mo Nunn Racing
Roberto Moreno	1:00.612	+1.191	90.695	Patrick Racing
Michael Andretti	1:00.625	+1.204	90.675	Team Motorola
Christian Fittipaldi	1:00.681	+1.260	90.592	Newman-Haas Racing
Tora Takagi (R)	1:00.793	+1.291	90.425	Walker Motorsport
Adrian Fernández	1:00.861	+1.440	90.324	Fernandez Racing
Shinji Nakano	1:00.949	+1.528	90.193	Fernandez Racing
Oriol Servià	1:01.182	+1.761	89.850	Sigma Autosport
Michel Jourdain Jr.	1:01.192	+1.771	89.835	Bettenhausen Racing
Max Papis	1:01.289	+1.868	89.693	Team Rahal
Patrick Carpentier	1:01.310	+1.889	89.662	Forsythe Racing
Paul Tracy	1:01.382	+1.961	89.557	Team Green
Bryan Herta	1:01.418	+1.997	89.505	Forsythe Racing
Memo Gidley	1:01.611	+2.190	89.224	Chip Ganassi Racing
Jimmy Vasser	1:02.129	+2.708	88.840	Patrick Racing
Casey Mears	1:02.799	+3.376	87.536	Mo Nunn Racing
Max Wilson (R)	1:02.912	+3.491	87.379	Arciero Racing
Source:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/retired	Grid
1	Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	100	1:54:42.336	1	221
27	Dario Franchitti	Team Green	100	+3.430	6	16
12	Memo Gidley	Chip Ganassi Racing	100	+18.847	23	14
5	Tora Takagi (R)	Walker Motorsport	100	+20.894	14	12
3	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	100	+21.670	4	10
6	Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	100	+23.102	8	8
8	Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	100	+28.826	3	6
11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman-Haas Racing	100	+34.421	13	5
7	Max Papis	Team Rahal	100	+38.298	19	4
32	Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	100	+38.883	20	3
40	Jimmy Vasser	Patrick Racing	100	+39.251	24	2
55	Tony Kanaan	Mo Nunn Racing	100	+46.539	10	1
77	Bryan Herta	Forsythe Racing	100	+46.800	22	—
51	Adrian Fernández	Fernandez Racing	99	+1 Lap	15	—
52	Shinji Nakano	Fernandez Racing	99	+1 Lap	16	—
25	Max Wilson (R)	Arciero Racing	98	+2 Laps	26	—
66	Casey Mears	Mo Nunn Racing	98	+2 Laps	25	—
18	Scott Dixon (R)	PacWest Racing	96	Contact	7	—
33	Alex Tagliani	Forsythe Racing	93	Contact	5	—
17	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest Racing	78	Gearbox	9	—
39	Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	76	Brakes	12	—
20	Roberto Moreno	Patrick Racing	65	Gearbox	11	—
4	Bruno Junqueira (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	52	Gearbox	2	—
26	Paul Tracy	Team Green	49	Contact	21	—
16	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Bettenhausen Racing	37	Contact	18	—
22	Oriol Servià	Sigma Autosport	37	Contact	17	—
Source:

1– Includes two bonus points for leading the most laps and being the fastest qualifier.
Lead changes: 0 among 0 drivers

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