The 2001 American Memorial was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on September 15, 2001 at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany. It was the 16th round of the 2001 CART season and the first race in the series to be held in Europe. Originally known as the German 500, the event's name was changed by CART in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Kenny Bräck won the race for Team Rahal after starting from second position; his teammate Max Papis finished in second place, and Patrick Carpentier was third.
The season points leader entering the race, Gil de Ferran, was awarded the pole position when qualifying was cancelled after a practice session was rained out. Bräck took the lead early in the race, and built a seven-second advantage before going off course while trying to lap another car. Carpentier took his place after the lap 64 incident, and held the lead until Tony Kanaan passed him on lap 95. After passing Carpentier for second, Alex Zanardi moved ahead of Kanaan after a series of pit stops between laps 121 to 123. Zanardi held the top spot entering his final scheduled pit stop with 12 laps remaining.
Upon leaving the pit lane, Zanardi lost control of his car, which turned sideways onto the circuit. Alex Tagliani crashed into Zanardi's car, splitting the chassis into two pieces. The crash led to the amputation of both of Zanardi's legs. The rest of the race was run under a caution flag, and Bräck, who had moved into second place before Zanardi's pit stop, secured the victory. Zanardi and Tagliani were taken to a Berlin hospital; Zanardi had a fractured pelvis and a concussion in addition to his amputations, while Tagliani was not severely injured.
Report
Background
The German 500 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 was held at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Corby, England one week later. EuroSpeedway chairman Hans-Jörg Fischer hoped for a crowd of 70,000 at the track, which had a capacity of 90,000.
Entering the German 500, the 16th round of the 2001 CART season, Gil de Ferran held the lead in the season's points standings with 115 points. Bräck and Hélio Castroneves were joint second on 110 points, and Michael Andretti was fourth, seven points further back.
Four days before the race, the September 11 attacks took place, causing most major American sporting events scheduled on the same weekend as the German 500 to be postponed, including National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) games and the New Hampshire 300 NASCAR Winston Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The Italian Grand Prix, a Formula One race, was held that weekend. According to CART vice president Ronald Richards, 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 desirous of avoiding 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.
Practice and qualifying
The first day of practice for the American Memorial was scheduled on September 13, but was cancelled because of rain. Practice was held the following day, and Tony Kanaan of Mo Nunn Racing recorded the fastest lap of 34.624 seconds. Teammate Zanardi had a lap of 34.991 seconds for the second-fastest time; he was followed by Carpentier, Bräck, and Bruno Junqueira.
As of September 13, Andretti was unable to travel to Germany from his Nazareth, Pennsylvania residence, since his planned September 11 flight had been grounded. Andretti was able to arrange a charter flight to Germany and landed in Dresden the next day.
Due to the rainout and the drivers' lack of familiarity with the EuroSpeedway, CART cancelled qualifying for the American Memorial. The starting grid was determined by drivers' order in the season points standings. The pole position went to de Ferran, though due to the lack of qualifying, he was not awarded a point in the standings as was customary for pole winners. Bräck earned second position since he held a tie-breaker over Castroneves, who started third, and Andretti began the race in fourth.