2003 CART season

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

2003 CART season
Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford
Season
Races19 18
Start dateFebruary 23
End dateNovember 9 October 26
Awards
Drivers' champion Paul Tracy
Constructors' Cup Lola
Manufacturers' Cup / Ford-Cosworth
Nations' Cup Canada
Rookie of the Year Sébastien Bourdais

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 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 continued to brand its top series as the Champ Car World Series.

This marks the first season since 1993 without Michael Andretti.

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. Starting in 2003, CART began branding itself as the Champ Car World Series, and a marketing agreement between CART and the two suppliers resulted in the full branding of "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 Primary Sponsors
Newman/Haas Racing Lola B02/00 1 Bruno Junqueira All PacifiCare
2 Sébastien Bourdais  R  All Eli Lilly 13
McDonald's 3
Cialis 1
ConnectED 1
Team Player's Lola B02/00 3 Paul Tracy All Player's 16
It's Your World 2
LastLap.ca16-18
32 Patrick Carpentier All
Herdez Competition Lola B02/00 4 Roberto Moreno 1-16, 18 Herdez
Roberto González  R  17
55 Mario Domínguez All
Walker Racing Reynard 02I 5 Rodolfo Lavín  R  All Corona
15 Darren Manning  R  All RAC AutoWindscreens 6
U.S. Air Force 1
Air China 6
Sportsbook.com 5
Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing Reynard 02I 7 Tiago Monteiro  R  All Laureus 2
World Childhood Foundation 8
O2 Diesel 7
AllSlots.com 1
Team Rahal Lola B02/00 9 Michel Jourdain, Jr. All Gigante 17
Office Depot 1
Dale Coyne Racing Lola B02/00 11 Roberto González  R  1 Lotto Speed 2
Snap-On Tools 1
Malaysia Airlines 2
Alex Yoong  R  2-5
Gualter Salles 6 Alpina
Geoff Boss  R  7-18 Lacoste
19 Joël Camathias  R  1-7 City of Lugano
Gualter Salles 8-9, 11-15, 17-18 Alpina
Alex Sperafico  R  10, 16 Dale Coyne Racing
American Spirit Team Johansson Reynard 02I 12 Jimmy Vasser All American Spirit Team Johansson 17
Gonher de Mexico 1
31 Ryan Hunter-Reay  R  All
Patrick Racing Lola B02/00 20 Oriol Servià All Visteon
PK Racing Lola B02/00 27 Patrick Lemarié  R  1-6 Scientific Atlanta 17
Yalumba 1
Bryan Herta 7
Max Papis 8-14
Mika Salo  R  15-18
Rocketsports Racing Lola B02/00 33 Alex Tagliani All Johnson Controls
Mi-Jack Conquest Racing Reynard 02I 34 Mario Haberfeld  R  All Mi-Jack
Fernández Racing Lola B02/00 51 Adrián Fernández All Tecate
Part Time Entries
Walker Racing Reynard 02I 25 Luis Díaz  R  17 Sun Microsystems
R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

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

Season summary

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

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit

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

Final driver standings
Pos Driver STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LAG POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN MIA MEX SUR Pts
1 Paul Tracy 1* 1* 1 17 12 12 3 2* 2* 1* 1* 15 1* 6 4 16 1* 13 226
2 Bruno Junqueira 3 5 3 2 4 17 2 4 3 3 2 1* 13 13 1* 9 7 15* 199
3 Michel Jourdain, Jr. 2 2 15* 6 3 1* 4 12 7 2 4 16 4 1 6 7 4 4 195
4 Sébastien Bourdais  RY  11 17 16 1* 1* 9 17 14 1 4 3 2 5 19 2 17 2 17 159
5 Patrick Carpentier 8 8 6 5 7 3 1* 16 4 7 13 5 2 3 17 6 14 5 146
6 Mario Domínguez 14 13 5 3 2 8 10 10 5 12 10 14 16 5 7 1 3 10 118
7 Oriol Servià 12 18 12 4 5 2 6 5 6 5 16 18 18 2 3 19 13 19 108
8 Adrián Fernández 15 4 2 12 15 6 7 1 11 9 12 12 7 8 5 8* 8 12 105
9 Darren Manning  R  13 7 8 10 6 4 18 6 10 8 5 6 8 10 8 11 9 2 103
10 Alex Tagliani 19 3 10 8 18 5 14 3 8 17 14 3 6 4* 9 13 16 7 97
11 Jimmy Vasser 6 14 4 19 8 11 8 7 13 13 11 9 15 16 11 4 17 3 72
12 Mario Haberfeld  R  4 16 9 9 14 7 5 8 15 19 7 8 10 11 10 5 12 14 71
13 Roberto Moreno 5 6 17 7 10 19 15 9 18 6 17 7 19 7 16 2 16 67
14 Ryan Hunter-Reay  R  16 12 7 16 11 16 12 17 9 11 6 10 3 17 15 12 11 1 64
15 Tiago Monteiro  R  7 19 11 14 13 10 9 19 Wth 10 15 17 11 18 13 15 6 18 29
16 Mika Salo  R  14 3 5 11 26
17 Max Papis 15 12 16 9 4 9 9 25
18 Rodolfo Lavín  R  18 15 18 15 9 14 19 11 14 15 8 19 12 15 19 18 18 8 17
19 Gualter Salles 13 18 17 DNS 11 17 12 18 15 6 11
20 Geoff Boss  R  16 13 16 14 DNS 13 14 14 12 10 20 9 8
21 Patrick Lemarié  R  10 10 13 11 19 18 8
22 Joël Camathias  R  9 11 14 13 16 15 13 6
23 Alex Yoong  R  9 19 18 17 4
24 Roberto González  R  17 10 3
25 Bryan Herta 11 2
26 Alex Sperafico  R  18 14 0
27 Luis Díaz  R  19 0
Pos Driver STP MTY LBH BRH LAU MIL LAG POR CLE TOR VAN ROA MDO MTL DEN MIA MEX SUR Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th-6th place
Light Blue 7th-12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
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
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie

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

Chassis Constructor's Cup
Pos Chassis Pts
1 Lola 387
2 Reynard 161
Pos Chassis Pts

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

gollark: <@185325259673698304> TE lets you manually set input/output slots and sides in the GUI.
gollark: What I usually do is have all my headless EEPROMy devices boot from a code file on the interwebs.
gollark: I would say Thermal stuff.
gollark: It can do some stuff, like redstone IO with a card, or wireless networking also with a card.
gollark: Those are external components.

See also

Notes
  1. "Ford increases their stake in CART". motorsport.com. 2002-11-21. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
  2. "Conquest Racing joins Champ Car Series". motorsport.com. 2002-12-23. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  3. "Pollock, Kalkhoven form Champ Car team". motorsport.com. 2003-01-15. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  4. "Gentilozzi to own CART team in 2003". motorsport.com. 2002-11-16. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  5. "Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing, driver Monteiro enter Champ Car series". motorsport.com. 2003-02-10. Archived from the original on 2005-11-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  6. "Johansson forms two car CART team". motorsport.com. 2002-12-20. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
  7. "Former F1 driver Yoong joins Dale Coyne Racing". motorsport.com. 2003-03-21. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  8. "Yoong steps down at Dale Coyne Racing". motorsport.com. 2003-05-26. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  9. "Herta replaces PK Racing's rookie for Laguna". motorsport.com. 2003-06-12. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  10. "'Mad Max' Papis returns to Champ Car competition". motorsport.com. 2003-06-18. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  11. "Dale Coyne Racing signs Geoff Boss". motorsport.com. 2003-06-12. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  12. "Toronto: Round ten preview". motorsport.com. 2003-07-08. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  13. "Salo to debut at Denver". motorsport.com. 2003-08-27. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.
  14. "Walker Racing add Luis Diaz to team's Mexico City lineup". motorsport.com. 2003-09-30. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2008-06-11.

References
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