View source for 2003 German 500

{{more citations needed|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{American Championshp Car race report infobox|
Country       = Germany|
Race          = German 500|
Image         = EuroSpeedway_Lausitz_tri-oval_diagram.svg|
Caption       = |
Date          = May 11|
Year          = 2003|
Official name = German 500|
Race_No       = 5|
Season_No     = 18|
Series        = CART|
Location      = [[EuroSpeedway Lausitz]]<br />[[Oberspreewald-Lausitz|Klettwitz]], [[Brandenburg]], Germany|
Course        = 2 Mile Banked Oval|
Course_mi     = 2.023|
Course_km     = 3.256|
Distance_laps = 154|
Distance_mi   = 311.542|
Distance_km   = 501.424|
Weather       = Mostly Cloudy|
Pole_Driver   = [[Sébastien Bourdais]]|
Pole_Team     = [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]|
Pole_Time     = 37.000|
Pole_Country  = France|
Fast_Driver   = [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]|
Fast_Team     = [[Rahal Letterman Racing|Team Rahal]]|
Fast_Time     = 36.721|
Fast_Lap      = 133|
Fast_Country  = Mexico|
First_Driver  = [[Sébastien Bourdais]]|
First_Team    = [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]|
First_Country = France|
Second_Driver = [[Mario Domínguez]]|
Second_Team   = [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]|
Second_Country= Mexico|
Third_Driver  = [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]|
Third_Team    = [[Rahal Letterman Racing|Team Rahal]]|
Third_Country = Mexico|
}}

The '''2003 German 500''' was the fifth round of the [[2003 CART season]], held on May 11, 2003 on the oval track at [[EuroSpeedway Lausitz]] in [[Oberspreewald-Lausitz|Klettwitz, Brandenburg, Germany]].  The race also featured the return of [[Alex Zanardi]] to a [[Champ Car]] racing cockpit, about a year and a half after he lost both his legs in a nearly fatal crash at the 2001 CART race at the track.<ref name="x465">{{cite web | last=Turner | first=Kevin | title=CHAMPCAR/CART: Lausitz: German 500 race report | website=Motorsport.com | date=12 May 2003 | url=https://au.motorsport.com/indycar/news/champcar-cart-lausitz-german-500-race-report/2005294/ | access-date=25 Oct 2024}}</ref><ref name="w692">{{cite web | last=Turner | first=Kevin | title=CHAMPCAR/CART: Zanardi named Grand Marshal for German 500 | website=Motorsport.com | date=27 Mar 2003 | url=https://au.motorsport.com/indycar/news/champcar-cart-zanardi-named-grand-marshal-for-german-500/2000581/ | access-date=25 Oct 2024}}</ref>

==Qualifying results==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
! Pos
! Nat
! Name
! Team
! Time
|-
! 1
| {{flagicon|France}}
| [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
| [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]
| '''37.000'''
|-
! 2
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Bruno Junqueira]]
| Newman/Haas Racing
| '''37.211'''
|-
! 3
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
| [[Rahal Letterman Racing|Team Rahal]]
| '''37.274'''
|-
! 4
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Mario Haberfeld]]
| [[Conquest Racing|Mi-Jack Conquest Racing]]
| '''37.392'''
|-
! 5
| {{flagicon|UK}}
| [[Darren Manning]]
| [[Walker Racing]]
| '''37.532'''
|-
! 6
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Mario Domínguez]]
| [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]
| '''37.690'''
|-
! 7
| {{flagicon|Spain}}
| [[Oriol Servià]]
| [[Patrick Racing]]
| '''37.702'''
|-
! 8
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Rodolfo Lavín]]
| Walker Racing
| '''37.717'''
|-
! 9
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Alex Tagliani]]
| [[Rocketsports Racing]]
| '''37.732'''
|-
! 10
| {{flagicon|France}}
| [[Patrick Lemarié]]
| [[KV Racing|PK Racing]]
| '''37.806'''
|-
! 11
| {{flagicon|USA}}
| [[Jimmy Vasser]]
| [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| '''37.911'''
|-
! 12
| {{flagicon|Brazil}}
| [[Roberto Moreno]]
| Herdez Competition
| '''38.057'''
|-
! 13
| {{flagicon|Malaysia}}
| [[Alex Yoong]]
| [[Dale Coyne Racing]]
| '''38.152'''
|-
! 14
| {{flagicon|Portugal}}
| [[Tiago Monteiro]]
| [[Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing]]
| '''38.196'''
|-
! 15
| {{flagicon|USA}}
| [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
| American Spirit Team Johansson
| '''38.220'''
|-
! 16
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Paul Tracy]]
| [[Forsythe Championship Racing|Team Player's]]
| '''38.244'''
|-
! 17
| {{flagicon|Canada}}
| [[Patrick Carpentier]]
| Team Player's
| '''38.286'''
|-
! 18
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}}
| [[Joël Camathias]]
| Dale Coyne Racing
| '''38.558'''
|-
! 19
| {{flagicon|Mexico}}
| [[Adrian Fernández]]
| [[Fernández Racing]]
| '''38.666'''
|}

==Alex Zanardi's 13 Laps==
With 13 laps remaining in the [[2001 American Memorial]] CART race at [[EuroSpeedway Lausitz]], [[Alex Zanardi]] spun on the warm up lane after a pit stop.  His car spun directly into the path of the car driven by [[Alex Tagliani]].  The t-bone accident immediately amputated Zanardi's legs above his knees.  Quick work by the medical team saved his life and by 2002 he was walking on artificial legs of his own design.

For this event a 2002 [[Reynard Motorsport|Reynard]] Champ Car was modified to include hand controls by [[Conquest Racing|Mi-Jack Conquest Racing]] with assistance from [[Walker Racing]], painted in the same color scheme as the car Zanardi drove in the [[2001 CART World Series season|2001]] season. Prior to the start of the race, Zanardi took to the track and completed the 13 laps to symbolically finish the 2001 race.  His fastest lap was clocked at 37.487 seconds which would have put him 5th on the grid for the 2003 race.

Zanardi would go on to return to competitive auto racing in 2004, driving a BMW in the [[European Touring Car Championship]] (which would be redubbed the [[World Touring Car Championship]] in [[2005 World Touring Car Championship season|2005]]).  On August 28, 2005 he won his first race since the accident at the [[Motorsport Arena Oschersleben|Oschersleben]] circuit in [[Germany]].

==Race==
The end of the race featured a thrilling battle between Bourdais and Dominguez. Dominguez' team appealed to CART officials multiple times claiming Bourdais deserved penalties for blocking but officials sided with Bourdais. In the closest finish of the season, Bourdais edged out Dominguez at the line.

In an effort to reduce freight costs, CART mandated teams run the same aero package for both the Brands Hatch and German rounds. While most teams ran a package more suited to EuroSpeedway, Team Player's committed to running a full road course aerodynamics package for both races. Some were concerned their parts, only designed to hit 190&nbsp;mph for a brief moment, would not survive the full race with sustained speeds over 210&nbsp;mph for the entire race. While their parts ultimately held for the full distance, the team saw their strategy completely backfire. After Tracy lost a gearbox at Brands Hatch, the two cars were unable to draft effectively and fought poor handling. Tracy's engine also suffered misfires lowering his speed. After entering Europe with over a full race lead in the championship, Tracy would leave Europe tied with Junqueira for the championship lead with Dominguez, Bourdais, and Jourdain all within one race striking distance of the leaders.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
|-
! Pos !! No !! Driver !! Team !! Laps !! Time/Retired !! Grid !! Points
|-
! 1
| 2
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
| [[Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing|Newman/Haas Racing]]
| 154
| 1:49:22.498
| 1
| '''22'''
|-
! 2
| 55
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Mario Domínguez]]
| [[HVM Racing|Herdez Competition]]
| 154
| +0.084 secs
| 6
| '''16'''
|-
! 3
| 9
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Michel Jourdain Jr.]]
| [[Rahal Letterman Racing|Team Rahal]]
| 154
| +0.245 secs
| 3
| '''14'''
|-
! 4
| 1
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Bruno Junqueira]]
| Newman/Haas Racing
| 154
| +12.042 secs
| 2
| '''12'''
|-
! 5
| 20
| {{flagicon|Spain}} [[Oriol Servià]]
| [[Patrick Racing]]
| 154
| +12.055 secs
| 7
| '''10'''
|-
! 6
| 15
| {{flagicon|UK}} [[Darren Manning]]
| [[Walker Racing]]
| 154
| +24.602 secs
| 5
| '''8'''
|-
! 7
| 32
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Patrick Carpentier]]
| [[Forsythe Championship Racing|Team Player's]]
| 153
| + 1 Lap
| 17
| '''6'''
|-
! 8
| 12
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Jimmy Vasser]]
| [[American Spirit Team Johansson]]
| 153
| + 1 Lap
| 11
| '''5'''
|-
! 9
| 5
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Rodolfo Lavín]]
| Walker Racing
| 153
| + 1 Lap
| 8
| '''4'''
|-
! 10
| 4
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Roberto Moreno]]
| Herdez Competition
| 153
| + 1 Lap
| 12
| '''3'''
|-
! 11
| 31
| {{flagicon|USA}} [[Ryan Hunter-Reay]]
| American Spirit Team Johansson
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 15
| '''2'''
|-
! 12
| 3
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Paul Tracy]]
| Team Player's
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 16
| '''1'''
|-
! 13
| 7
| {{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Tiago Monteiro]]
| [[Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing]]
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 14
| '''0'''
|-
! 14
| 34
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Mario Haberfeld]]
| [[Conquest Racing|Mi-Jack Conquest Racing]]
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 4
| '''0'''
|-
! 15
| 51
| {{flagicon|Mexico}} [[Adrian Fernández]]
| [[Fernández Racing]]
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 19
| '''0'''
|-
! 16
| 19
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Joël Camathias]]
| [[Dale Coyne Racing]]
| 152
| + 2 Laps
| 18
| '''0'''
|-
! 17
| 11
| {{flagicon|Malaysia}} [[Alex Yoong]]
| Dale Coyne Racing
| 81
| Mechanical
| 13
| '''0'''
|-
! 18
| 33
| {{flagicon|Canada}} [[Alex Tagliani]]
| [[Rocketsports Racing]]
| 28
| Mechanical
| 9
| '''0'''
|-
! 19
| 27
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Patrick Lemarié]]
| [[KV Racing|PK Racing]]
| 25
| Contact
| 10
| '''0'''
|}

==Caution flags==
{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !!Cause
|-
|23-27 || Debris
|-
|83-88 || Debris
|}

==Notes==
{|
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Laps !!Leader
|-
|1-3 || [[Bruno Junqueira]]
|-
|4-18 || [[Sébastien Bourdais]]
|-
|19-34 || Bruno Junqueira
|-
|35-81 || [[Mario Domínguez]]
|-
|82-98 || Sébastien Bourdais
|-
|99-101 || Bruno Junqueira
|-
|102 || Sébastien Bourdais
|-
|103 || Bruno Junqueira
|-
|104-108 || Sébastien Bourdais
|-
|109-111 || [[Patrick Carpentier]]
|-
|112-114 || [[Jimmy Vasser]]
|-
|115-137 || Sébastien Bourdais
|-
|138-141 || Patrick Carpentier
|-
|142-154 || Sébastien Bourdais
|}
|width="50"|&nbsp;
|valign="top"|

{| border=2 cellspacing=0
|-
!Driver !! Laps led
|-
|[[Sébastien Bourdais]] || 74
|-
|[[Mario Domínguez]] || 47
|-
|[[Bruno Junqueira]] || 23
|-
|[[Patrick Carpentier]] || 7
|-
|[[Jimmy Vasser]] || 3
|}
|}

* '''New Track Record''' [[Sébastien Bourdais]] 37.000 (qualifying)
* '''New Race Record''' [[Sébastien Bourdais]] 1:49:22.498
* '''Average Speed''' 170.903&nbsp;mph

The race aired via same-day tape delay on CBS in the United States. Zanardi's laps were shown in their entirety at the start of the broadcast.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110606172735/http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=122516&FS=INDYCAR Zanardi completes the 2001 Lausitz race]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081120042712/http://www.champcarworldseries.com/Results/ResultsIndex.asp?ID=473 Full Weekend Times & Results]

{{CART World Series race report|
 Name_of_race = 2003 German 500 |
 Year_of_race = 2003 |
 Previous_race_in_season = [[2003 London Champ Car Trophy]] |
 Next_race_in_season = [[2003 Milwaukee Mile Centennial 250]] |
 Previous_year's_race = [[2001 American Memorial]] |
 Next_year's_race = '''Not Held'''
}}

[[Category:2003 in CART|G]]
[[Category:2003 in German motorsport|German 500]]
[[Category:May 2003 sports events in Germany|German 500]]