Preview: Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix.

Looking to build upon the spellbinding on-track drama generated by each of its past two FedEx Championship Series seasons, Championship Auto Racing Teams [CART] launches a record 21-event 2001 campaign this weekend in Mexico.

The past two Champcar have not been decided until the conclusion of riveting 20-event campaigns, each with its own drama and history. In 1999, Juan Montoya and Dario Franchitti concluded the season in the first-ever tie for the title and it took a tiebreaker -most race wins - for Montoya to slip past Franchitti for the crown in his rookie season. Last season brought us the tightest multiple-driver championship battle in history, as five drivers were in contention for the title heading into the season finale. Gil de Ferran emerged from the group and secured the eighth FedEx Series championship in the history of Penske Racing.

Now, CART launches its most ambitious schedule yet, a 21-race marathon that begins in Mexico this weekend and travels to Japan, England, Germany, Australia and throughout North America before wrapping up on 4 November at California Speedway. The European portion of the schedule marks CART's first-ever appearance on the continent.

This weekend, meanwhile, marks CART's first appearance in Mexico since a two-year run in 1980-81 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigues in Mexico City, both of which were won by three-time FedEx Championship Series champion Rick Mears. This arrival shifts the focus to the economic hub of Monterrey, where a 2.1-mile permanent road course has been constructed at Fundidora Park, on ground formerly occupied by Latin America's first steel mill, which closed in 1983.

That is where de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) will launch the bid to defend his FedEx Championship Series title against a stellar field of 28 other drivers and begin his quest to become the fourth driver in series history to win consecutive titles. He is looking to join the group of Mears (1981-82), Bobby Rahal (1986-87) and Alex Zanardi (1997-98), who is the only active driver among the trio as he makes a much anticipated return to the series this season.

Last season, his first with Marlboro Team Penske and sixth overall, de Ferran won two races and five pole positions with one of each carrying great historical significance. His first triumph of the season came at Nazareth Speedway and was the milestone 100th win in the storied history of Penske Racing. His final pole position came in the season finale at California Speedway and established a world closed-course speed record of 241.428mph.

The key, however, to de Ferran's success was his remarkable consistency as he scored championship points in 15 of 20 events and qualified among the top five drivers in 16 of those starts. The performance earned de Ferran the Mario Andretti Award as the leading vote-getter on CART's second annual All-Star Team.

Not to be overlooked in de Ferran's historic season was the breakout performance of his team-mate Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Honda Reynard). The young Brazilian tied for the series lead with three victories, added three pole positions and finished a career-best seventh in the championship during an impressive first season with Marlboro Team Penske. He is considered among the serious contenders for his team-mate's crown.

Marlboro Team Penske went through an off-season of upheaval prior to the 2000 campaign, changing every key component of its package, from the drivers to the equipment they piloted. The most recent off-season saw the Penske organisation maintain status quo in an effort to build upon the spectacular successes of last year.

Not so for many of its chief rivals chasing this season's FedEx Championship Series title. Three former series champions are driving for different teams this year, as is last year's runner-up in the championship chase. The team that ranks second to Penske Racing in FedEx Championship Series career victories has changed its power plant, as has the team that produced the second- and third-place finishers in last year's championship.

In short, it has been an off-season fraught with change, the most significant coming at newly formed Team Motorola. Michael Andretti, CART's all-time victory leader - with 40 - and a two-time All Star, will ply his trade at newly formed Team Motorola after spending ten of his past eleven Champcar seasons at Newman-Haas Racing. Andretti's eighth-place finish in last year's championship represented his 16th top-ten result in his past 16 CART campaigns, and he established a new series record by winning at least one event in his 13th different season.

Team Motorola, operating as a technical partner with Team KOOL Green, has given Andretti the Honda/Reynard/Firestone package that has powered the past five FedEx Championship Series champions, dating back to Jimmy Vasser in 1996. Thus, Andretti, always a contender, becomes a genuine favourite to collect his second FedEx Championship Series title, bookending the one he earned in 1991.

Two other former champions who were part of an unprecedented run of four consecutive FedEx Championship Series crowns (1996-99) at Target Chip Ganassi Racing are looking forward to fresh starts with different teams. Vasser (Patrick Racing Toyota Reynard), the 1996 series champion, has moved from Target Ganassi to Patrick Racing, where he will team with veteran Roberto Moreno (Visteon Patrick Racing Toyota Reynard), who comes off a career-best third-place finish in last year's championship.

Meanwhile, the most heralded return to the FedEx Championship Series will be made by Zanardi, the 1997-98 series champion who is back in the fold following a two-year absence. He returns to the Champcar cockpit for second-year team owner Morris Nunn, who engineered Zanardi's 15 race victories and ten pole positions from 1996-98 at Target Ganassi. As in those glory years, Zanardi will pilot a Honda-powered Reynard, with sponsorship from Pioneer and WorldCom. . Tony Kanaan (Hollywood Honda Reynard) figures to benefit from Zanardi's veteran savvy and a new Honda power plant as he returns for a second season at Mo Nunn Racing.

Adrian Fernandez, runner-up in last season's championship, launches a new team in friendly surroundings this weekend as Fernandez Racing makes its FedEx Championship Series debut in his native Mexico. The two-car entry is owned by Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Telmex Honda Reynard) and Tom Anderson, former managing director at Target Chip Ganassi Racing. Fernandez' career-best runner-up performance in last year's championship included two victories and a series-high 17 points-producing finishes. He also led the FedEx Championship Series in laps and miles completed and earned a berth on the five-man All-Star team.

The most significant equipment changes have come at Newman-Haas Racing, second to Team Penske with 58 victories in CART annals, where drivers Christian Fittipaldi (Kmart Newman/Haas Toyota Lola) and newly arrived Cristiano da Matta (Texaco/Havoline Newman/Haas Toyota Lola) have switched from Ford to Toyota power. Also making that switch is Patrick Racing, after seeing Fernandez and Moreno finish second and third, respectively, in Fords last season.

The Toyota camp also added the PacWest Racing Group, which will campaign veteran Mauricio Gugelmin (Nextel PacWest Toyota) and rookie Scott Dixon (Powerware Panasonic PacWest Toyota), the 2000 Dayton Indy Lights champion.

A significant chassis change, meanwhile, took place at Team Rahal, which has opted for the Lola chassis for its driving tandem of Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Lola) and Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Lola). Papis earned his first career FedEx Championship Series victory in last year's season opener at Homestead to become one of a CART-record 11 different race winners in 2000. Brack's inaugural FedEx Championship Series season concluded with a spectacular fourth-place finish in the championship and the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award.

All FedEx Championship Series entries compete on Firestone Tires, the Official Tire of CART.

Like Marlboro Team Penske, Team KOOL Green returns its driver/equipment package intact, spearheaded by two-time All Star Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard). Tracy tied Castroneves and Montoya with a series-high three victories en route to a fifth-place finish in last year's championship. For the fourth season, Tracy will be teamed with Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard), the 1999 championship runner-up who looks to bounce back from a trying 2000 season that was marred by a pre-season testing accident that sidelined him for more than six weeks.

The Player's Forsythe Racing tandem of Patrick Carpentier (Player's/Indeck Ford Reynard) and Alex Tagliani (Player's/Indeck Ford Reynard) maintains status quo after a 2000 season that saw Carpentier finishing a career-best eleventh in the championship despite missing three events, and Tagliani earning a pole at Rio de Janeiro and contending for a pair of race victories in his rookie campaign.

Beyond the extensive roster of legitimate championship contenders, the FedEx Championship Series rookie crop boasts an impressive pedigree. In addition to Dixon, Target Chip Ganassi Racing - which struck gold with Zanardi and Montoya - looks to repeat the feat with rookies Bruno Junqueira and Nicolas Minassian, who finished first and second, respectively, in last year's FIA F3000 championship. Both will pilot Target-sponsored Toyota Lolas. Another championship winner joins the series in Tora Takagi (Pioneer/DENSO Special Toyota Reynard) of Walker Racing, the winner of the 2000 Japanese Formula Nippon title.

Herdez Bettenhausen figures to draw plenty of interest this weekend as native Mexican Michel Jourdain Jr. (Herdez Ford Lola) makes his first Champcar appearance in his homeland. Dale Coyne Racing, meanwhile, has entered a pair of Ford-powered Lolas for Luiz Garcia Jr (Embratel 21 Special Ford Lola) and German rookie Michael Krumm (The Dark Dog Ford Lola).

New teams are entered at Fernandez Racing, where second-year driver Shinji Nakano (Avex/Alpine Honda Reynard) teams with the team's namesake; Sigma Autosport, which has put 1999 Dayton Indy Lights champion Oriol Servia (Sigma Autosport Ford Lola) in the cockpit and Arciero/Brooke Racing, where rookie Max Wilson (winner B2B.com/Arciero/Brooke Racing Phoenix Lola) will handle driving duties.

Zakspeed/Forsythe Championship Racing, which competed in only one event as Forsythe Championship Racing during the 2000 season, is back for a full campaign this year, with a new co-owner in Peter Zakowski and Bryan Herta (Zakspeed/Forsythe Championship Racing Ford Reynard) in the cockpit. Herta finished fourth for the team at Laguna Seca in its only 2000 start.

The Tecate Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Presented by Herdez kicks off CART's most ambitious schedule yet, with a record-21 events spread out over seven countries on four continents. In addition to its annual visits to Australia and Japan, CART makes its first trip ever to Europe this season, with back-to-back September events scheduled for Lausitz, Germany and Corby, England.