The 2000s – New Beginnings
The Race Winners:
July 16, 2000 – Michael Andretti
July 1, 2001 – Michael Andretti
July 7, 2002 - Cristiano da Matta
July 13, 2003 – Paul Tracy
July 11, 2004 - Sebastien Bourdais
July 10, 2005 – Justin Wilson
July 9, 2006 - A.J. Allmendinger
July 8, 2007 – Will Power
2008 – No Race
July 12, 2009 – Dario Franchitti
The new decade started off much like the previous with Michael Andretti winning the first two events. The end of the decade brought a new series, a new event promoter and a great new title sponsor and partner in Honda Canada.
As the calendar flipped to the next century, Andretti’s seventh and record setting final win on the streets of Toronto came in 2001 leading the final 25 of the race’s 95 laps. After stalling on course in a first lap incident with rookie Scott Dixon putting him to the back of the 26-car field, Andretti and his Team Manager Kim Green opted for a four-stop pit strategy. Using the yellow caution periods, he went to pitlane each time topping off fuel. It worked! He didn’t have to conserve fuel while the other leaders did, and Michael charged to victory.
"Just an awesome day, a perfect day for Team Motorola, they did an awesome job,” said Andretti. "This is a big one, I'll tell you that. After the first lap, I thought the race was over for us. But it was a hard fought race.”
Canadian racing hero Paul Tracy would win again in Toronto in 2003 as well as the season championship. Tracy’s former teammate Dario Franchitti repeated the season championship feat in 2009 winning the event now known as the Honda Indy Toronto and sanctioned by the Indy Racing League in the all Honda-powered series. It also marked the series’ very first international street race. Cristiano da Matta (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004) would also win Indy car championships in the same year as their Toronto victories.
Watch the 2009 highlights as the Honda Indy Toronto era begins.
Canadian drivers collectively had their second most starts during the decade with 25 compared to 28 in the 1990s. The drivers to take the green flag over the nine races at Exhibition Place included Patrick Carpentier (2000-2004), Andrew Ranger (2005, 2006), Alex Tagliani (2000-2007, 2009), Paul Tracy (2000-2007, 2009).
