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

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)

History

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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

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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

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Sanair (1984–1986)

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

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2002–2006)

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

Formula Atlantic winners

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These races were held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

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

Attendance

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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

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References

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