2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500

The 2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500 was the third round of the 2002 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on April 27, 2002, on the oval at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan.

2002 Motegi

Race details
Race 3 of 19 in the 2002 CART season
Twin Ring Motegi track layout
Date	April 27, 2002
Official name	2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500
Location	Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Tochigi, Japan
Course	1.5-mile oval 1.548 mi / 2.491 km
Distance	201 laps 311.148 mi / 500.691 km
Pole position
Driver	Bruno Junqueira (Target Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	25.907
Fastest lap
Driver	Tony Kanaan (Mo Nunn Racing)
Time	26.425 (on lap 31 of 201)
Podium
First	Bruno Junqueira (Target Chip Ganassi Racing)
Second	Alex Tagliani (Team Player's)
Third	Dario Franchitti (Team KOOL Green)

This marked the final Champ Car race for PacWest Racing. It also marked the final time Champ Car would compete in Japan as next years event was contested by the Indy Racing League.

Qualifying results

Pos	Nat	Name	Team	Time
1		Bruno Junqueira	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	25.907
2		Tony Kanaan	Mo Nunn Racing	26.051
3		Paul Tracy	Team KOOL Green	26.059
4		Kenny Bräck	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	26.133
5		Dario Franchitti	Team KOOL Green	26.173
6		Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	26.206
7		Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	26.292
8		Cristiano da Matta	Newman/Haas Racing	26.300
9		Jimmy Vasser	Team Rahal	26.337
10		Townsend Bell	Patrick Racing	26.376
11		Tora Takagi	Walker Racing	26.398
12		Alex Tagliani	Team Player's	26.412
13		Michel Jourdain Jr.	Team Rahal	26.430
14		Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	26.485
15		Scott Dixon	PWR Championship Racing	26.502
16		Christian Fittipaldi	Newman/Haas Racing	26.594
17		Max Papis	Sigma Autosport	26.655
18		Shinji Nakano	Fernández Racing	26.791
19		Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	26.847
20		Oriol Servià	PWR Championship Racing	26.951

Race

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	4	Bruno Junqueira	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	201	2:00:05.882	1	21
2	33	Alex Tagliani	Team Player's	201	+12.282	12	16
3	27	Dario Franchitti	Team KOOL Green	200	+ 1 Lap	5	14
4	32	Patrick Carpentier	Team Player's	199	+ 2 Laps	6	12
5	9	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Team Rahal	199	+ 2 Laps	13	10
6	17	Oriol Servià	PWR Championship Racing	199	+ 2 Laps	20	8
7	51	Adrian Fernández	Fernández Racing	199	+ 2 Laps	14	6
8	5	Tora Takagi	Walker Racing	199	+ 2 Laps	11	5
9	7	Scott Dixon	PWR Championship Racing	198	+ 3 Laps	15	4
10	52	Shinji Nakano	Fernández Racing	198	+ 3 Laps	18	3
11	16	Mario Domínguez	Herdez Competition	197	+ 4 Laps	19	2
12	11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman/Haas Racing	193	+ 8 Laps	16	1
13	6	Cristiano da Matta	Newman/Haas Racing	186	Pulled in	8	0
14	20	Townsend Bell	Patrick Racing	136	Contact	10	0
15	10	Tony Kanaan	Mo Nunn Racing	121	Engine	2	1
16	39	Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	115	Gearbox	7	0
17	12	Kenny Bräck	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	101	Engine	4	0
18	22	Max Papis	Sigma Autosport	94	Brakes	17	0
19	26	Paul Tracy	Team KOOL Green	84	Wheel bearing	3	0
20	8	Jimmy Vasser	Team Rahal	38	Fire	9	0

Caution flags

Laps	Cause
40-45	Vasser (8) tow-in
90-97	Debris
139-155	Bell (20) contact
157-161	Nakano (52) lost wheel

Notes

Laps Leader 1-38 Tony Kanaan 39-76 Paul Tracy 77-80 Kenny Bräck 81-83 Michael Andretti 84-100 Tony Kanaan 101 Bruno Junqueira 102-118 Tony Kanaan 119-143 Bruno Junqueira 144-166 Alex Tagliani 167-190 Bruno Junqueira 191-197 Dario Franchitti 198-201 Bruno Junqueira

Driver Laps led Tony Kanaan 72 Bruno Junqueira 54 Paul Tracy 38 Alex Tagliani 23 Dario Franchitti 7 Kenny Bräck 4 Michael Andretti 3

• Average Speed 155.447 mph

External links

• Qualifying Results
• Race Results

Previous race: 2002 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	CART FedEx Championship Series 2002 season	Next race: 2002 Miller Lite 250
Previous race: 2001 Firestone Firehawk 500	2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500	Next race: 2003 Indy Japan 300 IndyCar Series event