2002 Bridgestone Potenza 500
# 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.

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 | 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 |
