Molson Indy Montreal
IndyCar / CART / Champ Car
VenueCircuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
First race1984
Last race2006
Distance181.503 mi
Laps67 laps
Previous namesMolson Indy 300 (1984–1986)
Molson Indy Montreal (2002–2005)
Grand Prix of Montreal (2006)
Most wins (driver)no repeat winners
Most wins (team)Newman/Haas Racing (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)Lola (6)

The Molson Indy Montreal was an annual auto race in Montreal, Quebec on the Champ Car World Series calendar.

History

Originally known as the Molson Indy 300, it was first held at Sanair Super Speedway, an oval track, from 1984 through 1986. The Champ Car series revived the race in 2002, and it was held in late August each year until 2006 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a permanent road course most famous as the home of the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix.

In 2006, the name of the race was changed to the Grand Prix of Montreal after its sale by Molson Sports & Entertainment. This mirrored the name change of the Toronto Champ Car race from the Molson Indy Toronto to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto after its sale by Molson.

Future prospects

After the 2006 race, the future of the Grand Prix of Montreal became shrouded in doubt. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is allowed to be used for one race weekend outside of the Canadian Grand Prix, and it was heavily speculated that from 2007 onwards, Canadian Grand Prix promoter Normand Legault (who promotes all races at CGV) would replace the Grand Prix of Montreal with a NASCAR Busch Series race.[1] Champ Car announced in September 2006 that it would indeed not be returning to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and would be replacing the event with one at Circuit Mont-Tremblant (2007 Mont-Tremblant Champ Car Grand Prix, previously held 1968–1970). Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve replaced the race with the NASCAR NAPA Auto Parts 200 race.

Race Winners

Sanair (1984–1986)

Season Winning Driver Chassis Engine Team Report Ref
1984 United States Danny Sullivan Lola Cosworth Doug Shierson Racing report [2]
1985 United States Johnny Rutherford March Cosworth Alex Morales Autosports report [3]
1986 United States Bobby Rahal March Cosworth Truesports report [4]

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2002–2006)

Season Winning Driver Chassis Engine Team Report Ref
2002 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Lola Honda Team Green report [5]
2003 Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr. Lola Ford-Cosworth Team Rahal report [6]
2004 Brazil Bruno Junqueira Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report [7]
2005 Spain Oriol Servia Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report [8]
2006 France Sébastien Bourdais Lola Ford-Cosworth Newman/Haas Racing report [9]

Formula Atlantic winners

These races were held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Season Winning Driver
1978 United States Jeff Wood
1979 United States Howdy Holmes
1980 Canada Jacques Villeneuve
1981 United States Kevin Cogan
1982 United States Tim Coconis
1983 Brazil Roberto Moreno
1986 Canada Scott Goodyear
1988 United States Scott Harrington
1989 Canada Scott Goodyear
1990 United States Jocko Cunningham
1991 United States Jimmy Vasser
1992 United States Chris Smith
1993 Canada Jacques Villeneuve
1994 United States Richie Hearn
1995 Canada David Empringham
1996 Canada Patrick Carpentier
1997 Canada Bertrand Godin
1998 Canada Lee Bentham
1999 Canada Alex Tagliani
2000 Canada David Rutledge
2001 Canada David Rutledge
2002 United States Rocky Moran Jr.
2003 United States A. J. Allmendinger
2004 United States Jon Fogarty
2005 Canada Antoine Bessette
2006 United States Graham Rahal

Attendance

Year Race day Weekend
2002 64,000 172,000 [10]
2003 58,000 148,000 [11]
2004 53,320 133,726 [12]
2005 36,204 93,755 [13]
2006 110,030 [14]

See also

References

  1. ^ [1][dead link]
  2. ^ "1984 Molson Indy". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  3. ^ "1985 Molson Indy 300". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "1986 Molson Indy Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  5. ^ "2002 Molson Indy Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  6. ^ "2003 Molson Indy Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  7. ^ "2004 Molson Indy Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  8. ^ "2005 Molson Indy Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  9. ^ "2006 Molson Grand Prix of Montreal". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
  10. ^ Shaw, Jeremy, ed. (2002). Autocourse CART Official Champ Car Yearbook 2002-2003. Richmond, Surrey, England: Hazelton Publishing Ltd. p. 129. ISBN 1-903135-17-6.
  11. ^ Shaw, Jeremy, ed. (2004). Autocourse Official Champ Car Yearbook 2003-2004. London, England: Hazelton Publishing Ltd. p. 145. ISBN 1-903135-33-8.
  12. ^ Shaw, Jeremy, ed. (2004). Autocourse Official Champ Car Yearbook 2004-2005. Silverstone, Northants, United Kingdom: Crash Media Group. p. 131. ISBN 1-903135-33-8.
  13. ^ Shaw, Jeremy, ed. (2005). Autocourse Official Champ Car Yearbook 2005-2006. Silverstone, Northants, United Kingdom: Crash Media Group Ltd. p. 133. ISBN 1-905334-05-2.
  14. ^ "NASCAR confirms Montreal event". cbc.ca. October 2, 2006. Retrieved June 21, 2020.

External links

45°30′2.08″N 73°31′20.86″W / 45.5005778°N 73.5224611°W / 45.5005778; -73.5224611

Championship Auto Racing Teams/Champ Car World Series (1979โ€“2008)
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