Sports television channel ESPN dropped CART coverage for the 2002 season. CBS and Speed Channel took its place for two seasons.[1] This reflected a continued decline for the series in a year saw which saw the German 500 cancelled due to the fact the planned host venue for that round, Eurospeedway Lausitz was at that time suffering from financial problems,[2] as well as a controversial round at Surfers Paradise where two drivers (Adrián Fernández and Toranosuke Takagi) were injured in a start crash and as well as there being some contentious decisions from race officials in relation to the running of that race particularly regarding its conclusion.[3][4] In addition Chip Ganassi Racing would withdraw from the CART series at the end of the season just as Team Penske had done at the end of the season prior, with the Ganassi operation choosing to completely defect to the IRL from 2003 onwards having run entries in concurrently in CART and the IRL during 2002.[5]Michael Andretti would also complete a buyout of Team Green with that team also defecting to the rival IRL series for 2003.[6] In a further financial blow to the series, freight company FedEx which had been title sponsor of the CART series since the 1998 season ended their title sponsorship deal with CART at the end of the year.[7]
Engine manufacturers Honda and Toyota would also pull out of CART and move across to the IRL at the end of the season leaving Ford-Cosworth as the sole engine supplier for 2003. Cosworth would remain the sole supplier for the series ( which be formally rebranded as the Champ Car World Series from 2004 to 2007) until the series ended following the reunification of American-open wheel racing in 2008.[8]
Drivers and teams
Bridgestone became the exclusive tire supplier for CART, replacing Firestone, an association that would continue until the final Champ Car season in 2007.[9] The 2002 season was the last to feature multiple engine manufacturers.
The biggest change to the team lineup in the 2002 CART season was the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League.[10] The departure of Team Penske, a CART stalwart from its earliest days, was an early sign of a major shift in the CART-IRL rivalry. Several other major CART powers would follow Penske to the IRL for the 2003 season. Target Chip Ganassi Racing and Mo Nunn Racing both set up separate IRL teams in 2002, but continued to compete in CART for the time being, though Mo Nunn downsized his team to a single car. They would be among the teams to leave CART for the IRL in 2003. Blair Racing also left CART for IRL.[11]Patrick Racing downsized their effort to a single car, while Forsythe Racing shut down their third car driven by Bryan Herta in 2001 for lack of sponsorship.[12]
The fifth race at Laguna Seca was the last appearance for Sigma Autosport, which, like PWR earlier in the season, found their sponsorship well run dry, leaving Max Papis without a ride.[21]
A run of disappointing performances and a two probation sanctions from CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach Sr. led to the firing of Townsend Bell from Patrick Racing after the ninth round at Cleveland. Oriol Servià drove the #20 car for the remainder of the season.[22]
Adrián Fernández fractured his hip in a crash in the tenth race at Vancouver and sat out the following race at Mid-Ohio. Max Papis substituted for him.[23]
Dale Coyne helped put together what was described as an "all-England" team named Team St. George for a one shot effort for the fifteenth race at Rockingham, England. Darren Manning was chosen to be the driver. The team used Coyne's traditional #19 car.[24]
After clinching the season championship by winning the sixteenth race in MiamiCristiano da Matta ran with #1 on his car for the rest of the season.
Adrian Fernández was involved in a crash in the seventeenth race at Surfer's Paradise, Australia and suffered two thoracic fractures, which forced him to sit out the final two races of the season. Max Papis sat in for him again at Fontana and Luis Díaz substituted at Mexico City.[25][26]
The biggest rule change was the implementation of mandatory pit windows.
A maximum pit window was established; meaning each car go no further than a specified number of laps without pitting. As a result, there were a minimum number of pit stops per race.
To count as a mandatory stop, all 4 tires had to be changed. Adding fuel on a pit stop was officially optional to encourage teams to go off sequence with an early stop.
Failure to pit within the specified number of laps resulted in a drive-through penalty in addition to the mandatory stop.
The rule closing pit road when a full course caution flag was displayed was eliminated to prevent teams from missing their window due to a caution flag coming out.
All mandated pit stops must be completed before the white flag lap.
The goal of the rule was to eliminate fuel economy runs and allow drivers to run as hard as they could the entire run as they had all the fuel needed to do so. However, teams ended up changing their strategy to conserve fuel so they could release the car from their pit stops as soon as the tire changes were complete. This led to a series of incidents where cars were being released back on track before the tire changes were complete and loose wheels coming off cars once back on track. To deter this CART instituted a mid-season 1-lap penalty and $5,000 fine for any car losing a wheel after a pit stop in addition to the time lost recovering the car to remount the tire.
Traction control was formally legalized after CART officials determined they could not successfully enforce a ban.[28]
After several controversies with changing turbo boost in recent years, CART and its engine manufacturers agreed to a reduction of the boost to 34" to remain in place for the entire 2002 season. While technically a reduction by 2" from where engines ended in 2001, lap times and horsepower numbers were still on par and in most cases faster and higher than last year.
Road & Street course qualifying was changed. The race weekend would feature two qualifying sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The fastest driver in each session received one championship point and was guaranteed a front-row start regardless of the results of the other session (the front row guarantee was added at Long Beach).
For Rounds 1–12, Each session was 60 minutes in length with 45 minutes of guaranteed green flag running. Teams could complete a maximum of 15 green flag laps per session, though causing a yellow/red flag would result in the loss of your fastest lap.
Starting at Montreal for the rest of the season, following numerous events where cars waited until the second half of the session to go out, CART officials changed the 60 minute session to be a 15-minute practice, followed by a 10-minute break, followed by 35 minutes of qualifying with 30 minutes of green-flag running guaranteed.
In the event of a late-race caution, CART officials were allowed to use the red flag to stop the race, clean up the crash, and attempt a green-flag finish.
Starting at the Mid-Ohio round, cars that spun off track into the gravel trap were allowed to be pushed back on track by the safety team and get back into the race as long as there was not other significant race-ending damage to the car. Previously a car stuck in a gravel trap would be ruled out of the event.
Following suit with other motorsports series in the aftermath of the death of Dale Earnhardt, the HANS Device became mandatory at all events, and all pit crew members were required to wear helmets.
^"Bridgestone set as tire for 2002". motorsport.com. October 31, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
^"Penske, a driving force behind the launch of CART leaves for IRL". motorsport.com. December 6, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Blair Racing forms new team". motorsport.com. January 9, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Forsythe Hilliard shop to shutdown, Herta out of ride". motorsport.com. November 13, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Vasser signs with Team Rahal for 2002". motorsport.com. October 12, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Michel Jourdain Jr., Gigante sign with Team Rahal". motorsport.com. January 30, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Kenny Brack signs with Ganassi Racing for 2002". motorsport.com. August 16, 2001. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Papis signs with Sigma for 2002 season". motorsport.com. January 21, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Patrick Racing signs Townsend Bell". motorsport.com. December 20, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Team Herdez names Dominguez as 2002 driver". motorsport.com. December 6, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2010.
^"Dixon moves to Ganassi Racing". motorsport.com. May 29, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"PWR suspends operation of Servia's No. 17". motorsport.com. May 16, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Portland: Sigma Autosport withdraws from event". motorsport.com. June 15, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Servia replaces Bell at Patrick Racing". Motorsport.com. July 23, 2002. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Mid-Ohio: Papis to replace injured Fernandez". motorsport.com. August 5, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Manning named Team St. George Rockingham driver". motorsport.com. September 6, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Papis to substitute for Fernandez at Fontana". motorsport.com. October 29, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Fernandez to sit out Mexico GP". motorsport.com. November 14, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"Dale Coyne to field car at Mexico City". motorsport.com. November 8, 2002. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
^"CHAMPCAR/CART: Traction control approved for 2002".
References
Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 2002". Driver Database. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
"2002 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
"FedEx Renews Title Sponsorship Agreement with Championship Auto Racing Teams; FedEx Championship Series Roars into 2002" (Press release). FedEx Corporation. November 7, 2001. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved May 20, 2009.
"Standings after Mexico City". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on October 22, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
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