2001 Molson Indy Toronto
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 10 of 21 in the 2001 CART season | |
Exhibition Place track layout | |
| Date | July 15, 2001 |
| Official name | Molson Indy Toronto |
| Location | Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Course | Temporary Street Course 1.755 mi / 2.824 km |
| Distance | 95 laps 166.725 mi / 268.318 km |
| Weather | Partly cloudy and warm with temperatures reaching up to 27 °C (81 °F) |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Gil de Ferran (Team Penske) |
| Time | 57.703 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
| Time | 59.028 (on lap 61 of 95) |
| Podium | |
| First | Michael Andretti (Team Motorola) |
| Second | Alex Tagliani (Forsythe Racing) |
| Third | Adrián Fernández (Fernandez Racing) |
The 2001 Molson Indy Toronto was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on July 15, 2001, at the Exhibition Place circuit in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the tenth round of the 2001 CART season, the 16th annual edition of the Molson Indy Toronto, and the first of two events that were held in Canada. The 95-lap race was won by Team Motorola driver Michael Andretti, who started from the 13th position. Alex Tagliani finished second for the Forsythe Racing team, and Fernandez Racing driver Adrián Fernández came in third.
Gil de Ferran won the pole position and maintained his lead throughout the race's first half. Andretti made contact with Scott Dixon on the first lap and made a pit stop along with a change of strategy to move up the field. Hélio Castroneves took over the lead after de Ferran made a pit stop for fuel and held it for 15 laps before he retired with a mechanical issue. Fernández and Tony Kanaan held the first position over the next seven laps. Andretti moved into first place on the 71st lap and maintained the position to win the race.
There were eleven cautions and four lead changes by five different drivers during the course of the race. It was Andretti's first (and only) victory of the season, his seventh at Toronto, and the 41st of his career. The result advanced Andretti to second in the Drivers' Championship, ten points behind leader Kenny Bräck, while Castroneves fell to third place, with eleven races left in the season. Approximately 73,628 people attended the event, which attracted 726,000 television viewers in the United States.