The German 500 was an automobile race sanctioned by

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed tr ...

held at

EuroSpeedway Lausitz The Lausitzring (formally known as the Dekra Lausitzring for ownership reasons) is a race track located near Klettwitz (a civil parish of Schipkau, Oberspreewald-Lausitz district) in the state of Brandenburg in northeast Germany, near the bor ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2001 and 2003.

Race History

The German 500 as put on the schedule for the

2001 CART season The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 of the 22 originally scheduled races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on No ...

and it was the first CART race ever to be held in Europe. It was the beginning of a two-week European stretch for the series; the

Rockingham 500 The Rockingham 500 was an annual Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held at the Rockingham Motor Speedway oval track in Corby, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom in 2001 and 2002. The event was the first major motor race h ...

was held at

Rockingham Motor Speedway Rockingham Motor Speedway is a former racing motorsport venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driver training, exhibition ...

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

, England one week later. The

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

occurred Four days before the race, causing most major American sporting events scheduled on the same weekend as the German 500 to be postponed, including

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

games and a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

race, the

New Hampshire 300 The ISM Connect 300 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car race that was , traditionally held in mid-September at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, the other one being the Ambetter 301 in July. The New England ...

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a Oval track racing, oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nickna ...

. The

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

, a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

race, was held that weekend. According to Ronald Richards, the vice president of CART, the series decided to continue with the race prior to the cancellation of that week's NFL games, a decision followed by other American leagues. Richards acknowledged that "We wish we would have had the input regarding the NFL's decision prior to making our decision." In remembrance of the September 11 attacks' victims, and in a desire to avoid criticism for holding the German 500 so soon afterward, CART changed the race's name to the American Memorial. The series also held tributes on the day of the race, and made a $500,000 donation to the World Trade Center Relief Fund, matching the event's prize fund. The race was won by

Kenny Bräck Kenny Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He won the 1998 Indy Racing League championship and the 1999 Indianapoli ...

but was marred by a crash involving

Alex Tagliani Alexandre Tagliani (; born October 18, 1973), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for 22 Racing. Tagliani has competed in a variety ...

and

Alex Zanardi Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...

. In 2002, the German 500 was originally scheduled for September 21st but was cancelled after EuroSpeedway filed for insolvency. The race returned to EuroSpeedway the following year, as did Zanardi, who ran 13 laps to represent those that he never completed in 2001. In 2003, the race returned and so did

, who drove a specially adapted car prior to the race.

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships ...

won the race but CART dropped EuroSpeedway Lausitz after the

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 o ...

Race winners

References

{{Champ Car Races Champ Car races