Monterey Grand Prix
 | |
| Indy Lights | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca |
| First race | 1960 |
| First IL race | 1983 |
| Most wins (driver) | Bobby Rahal (5) |
| Most wins (team) | Penske Racing (8) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Lola (11) |
The Monterey Grand Prix was an auto race held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The race was first held as a USAC Road Racing Championship event, following the success of the SCCA's Pebble Beach Road Races. After USAC's road racing series disbanded in 1962, the race became a non-championship race for three years, before joining the Can-Am schedule. After Can-Am's demise in 1974, the event shifted to Formula 5000 for two years, then to the IMSA GT Championship for two more years, then to the revamped, Formula 5000-based Can-Am. The first Indy Car / CART / Champ Car World Series race was held in 1983, and the final race was held in 2004. The race was to be brought back to Champ Car in 2008, but after the series was absorbed by the Indy Racing League, the Atlantic Championship took over the headline event. For 2015, the race returned as part of Mazda Road to Indy Championship Weekend. All three lower tiers of INDYCAR's Road to Indy participate, as a standalone race.
Results
| Year | Drivers | Team | Car | Duration/Distance | Sponsored Name | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USAC Road Racing Championship | ||||||
| 1960 |  Stirling Moss |
British Racing Partnership, Ltd. | Lotus 19-Climax | 201.4 mi (324.1 km) | The San Francisco Examiner presents the First Annual Pacific Grand Prix | report |
| 1961 | Stirling Moss |
UDT-Laystall Racing Team | Lotus 19-Climax | 201.4 mi (324.1 km) | San Francisco Examiner Pacific Grand Prix | report |
| 1962 |  Roger Penske |
Cooper T53-Climax[1] | 200.8 mi (323.2 km) | Pacific Grand Prix 200 | report | |
| Non-Championship | ||||||
| 1963 | Dave MacDonald |
Shelby American | Shelby Cooper-Ford | 200 mi (320 km) | Monterey Pacific Grand Prix | report |
| 1964 | Roger Penske |
Chaparral Cars | Chaparral 2A-Chevrolet | 200 mi (320 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1965 | Walt Hansgen |
John Mecom | Lola T70-Ford | 200 mi (320 km) | report | |
| Can-Am | ||||||
| 1966 | Phil Hill |
Chaparral Cars | Chaparral 2E-Chevrolet | 200 mi (320 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1967 |  Bruce McLaren |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M6A-Chevrolet | 200 mi (320 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1968 |  John Cannon |
John Cannon | McLaren M1B-Chevrolet | 150 mi (240 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1969 | Bruce McLaren |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M8B-Chevrolet | 150 mi (240 km) | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | report |
| 1970 | Denny Hulme |
Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M8D-Chevrolet | 150 mi (240 km) | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | report |
| 1971 | Peter Revson |
McLaren Cars Ltd. | McLaren M8F-Chevrolet | 170 mi (270 km) | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | report |
| 1972 | George Follmer |
Roger Penske | Porsche 917/10 | 170 mi (270 km) | Monterey Castrol GTX Grand Prix | report |
| 1973 | Mark Donohue |
Roger Penske Enterprises | Porsche 917/30 | 125 mi (201 km) | Monterey Castrol Grand Prix | report |
| Formula 5000 | ||||||
| 1974 | Brian Redman |
Lola T332-Chevrolet | 95 mi (153 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report | |
| 1975 | Mario Andretti |
Vel’s Parnelli Jones Racing | Lola T332-Chevrolet | 95 mi (153 km) | Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| IMSA GT Championship | ||||||
| 1976 | Jim Busby |
Busby Racing | Porsche Carrera | 100 mi (160 km) | Shasta Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1977 | David Hobbs |
McLaren North America | BMW 320i Turbo | 100 mi (160 km) | Shasta Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| Can-Am | ||||||
| 1978 | Al Holbert |
Hogan Racing | Lola T333CS-Chevrolet | 91 mi (146 km) | Shasta Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1979 | Bobby Rahal |
U.S. Racing | Prophet-Chevrolet | 91 mi (146 km) | Shasta Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1980 | Al Unser |
Brad Frisselle Racing | Frissbee-Chevrolet | 95 mi (153 km) | Shasta Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1981 |  Teo Fabi |
Paul Newman Racing | March 817-Chevrolet | 95 mi (153 km) | Datsun/Budweiser Can Am Challenge | report |
| 1982 | Al Unser, Jr. |
Galles Racing | Frissbee-Galles GR3-Chevrolet | 114 mi (183 km) | Datsun and Sprite present the Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| CART IndyCar/Champ Car | ||||||
| 1983 | Teo Fabi |
Forsythe Racing | March/Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Cribari Wines 300k | report |
| 1984 | Bobby Rahal |
Truesports | March/Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Quinn's Cooler 300k | report |
| 1985 | Bobby Rahal |
Truesports | March/Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Stroh's 300k | report |
| 1986 | Bobby Rahal |
Truesports | March/Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Champion Spark Plug 300 | report |
| 1987 | Bobby Rahal |
Truesports | Lola/Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Champion Spark Plug 300 | report |
| 1988 | Danny Sullivan |
Team Penske | Penske/Chevrolet | 300 km (190 mi) | Champion Spark Plug 300 | report |
| 1989 | Rick Mears |
Team Penske | Penske/Chevrolet | 300 km (190 mi) | Champion Spark Plug 300 | report |
| 1990 | Danny Sullivan |
Marlboro Team Penske | Penske/Chevrolet | 300 km (190 mi) | Champion Spark Plug 300 | report |
| 1991 | Michael Andretti |
Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Chevrolet-Ilmor | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1992 | Michael Andretti |
Newman/Haas Racing | Lola/Ford-Cosworth | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Monterey Grand Prix | report |
| 1993 | Paul Tracy |
Marlboro Team Penske | Penske/Chevrolet-Ilmor | 300 km (190 mi) | Makita 300 | report |
| 1994 | Paul Tracy |
Marlboro Team Penske | Penske/Ilmor | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 1995 |  Gil de Ferran |
Jim Hall Racing | Reynard/Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 1996 | Alex Zanardi |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 1997 | Jimmy Vasser |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard/Honda | 300 km (190 mi) | Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 1998 | Bryan Herta |
Team Rahal | Reynard/Ford | 300 km (190 mi) | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 1999 | Bryan Herta |
Team Rahal | Reynard/Ford | 300 km (190 mi) | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 2000 | Hélio Castroneves |
Marlboro Team Penske | Reynard/Honda | 300 km (190 mi) | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 2001 | Max Papis |
Team Rahal | Lola/Ford | 300 km (190 mi) | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 2002 | Cristiano da Matta |
Newman-Haas Racing | Lola/Toyota | 195 mi (314 km) | Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 2003 | Patrick Carpentier |
Forsythe Racing | Lola/Ford-Cosworth | 1 hour, 45 minutes | Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
| 2004 | Patrick Carpentier |
Forsythe Racing | Lola/Ford-Cosworth | 1 hour, 45 minutes | Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey | report |
Atlantic Championship/Indy Lights winners
"The Pass"
One of the most legendary moments in the history of the CART Grand Prix of Monterey, and the CART series itself, occurred in 1996. The event was the final race of the 1996 CART season. Bryan Herta led most of the race during the second half, and in the closing laps, was leading Alex Zanardi. Zanardi was in close pursuit, but Herta had been successful thus far holding him off, and appeared to be en route to his first-career Indy car victory. With Zanardi's Ganassi teammate Jimmy Vasser essentially wrapping up the series title already, the attention in the closing laps focused in on the battle for the race lead.
On the final lap, the cars approached the famous "Corkscrew" turns, with Herta leading. It was a spot on the track where competitive passes were seldom, due to being a tight, steep downhill segment. Zanardi made a daring, diving pass to the inside as Herta was under braking, and slid into the lead. Zanardi, however, slid forward off the track, attempting to go straight through the turns. As the hill dipped, and the corkscrew turns reversed, the inside lane became the outside line. His car bounced wildly over the curbing, throwing up dirt, became airborne, and narrowly missed a barrier. He swung across the track in front of Herta, with Herta narrowly missing a collision. Zanardi was able to gather control, and astonishingly made the pass stick. Zanardi held Herta off over the final two turns, and scored an improbable victory.
A surprised and dejected Herta was in total shock afterwards, naturally never expecting a pass of that nature in that location. Zanardi himself admitted it was an extremely high risk pass with little chance of success. In post-race evaluation, CART officials allowed the pass, but banned such moves in future races. The spectacular overtaking maneuver by Zanardi later became known in racing circles simply as "The Pass."