The 2001 Honda Indy 300 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on 28 October 2001, at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, before 110,187 people. It was the 20th and penultimate round of the 2001 CART season, the 11th iteration of the Honda Indy 300 and the last race of 2001 to be held outside the United States. Cristiano da Matta of the Newman-Haas Racing team won the 65-lap race from third. Michael Andretti finished second for Team Motorola and Forsythe Racing's Alex Tagliani took third.
Roberto Moreno won the second pole position of his career by recording the fastest lap in qualifying but de Ferran passed him on lap one. De Ferran pulled away from the rest of the field and retained the lead until the first round of pit stops. Moreno retook first by staying on the track for a lap longer than de Ferran. He lost the lead when he retired with a gear selection problem on lap 54. Da Matta assumed the lead and remained there for the remainder of the race to achieve his second victory of the season and the fourth of his career. Andretti drew closer to da Matta, but he was instructed to manage his fuel usage and took second place. There were two cautions and eight lead changes among five drivers during the race.
The result won Ferran his second consecutive CART Drivers' Championship as Kenny Bräck could not match his points total this late in the season. Hélio Castroneves maintained third despite not scoring any points but was now tied with Andretti as Da Matta overtook Dario Franchitti for fifth. Honda had already won the Manufacturers' Championship at the preceding Honda Grand Prix of Monterey as Toyota passed Ford Cosworth for second. Reynard still led the Constructors' Championship but Lola lowered the advantage by two points with one race left in the season.
Background
The Honda Indy 300 was confirmed as part of CART's 2001 schedule for the series in August 2000. It was the 11th consecutive year the race was held as part of the series, and the seventh (and last) round of 2001 to be held outside the United States. The 2001 Honda Indy 300 was the 20th and penultimate race scheduled for 2001 by CART. It was held on 28 October 2001, at the 12-turn Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Queensland. The Australian press anticipated that 300,000 people would visit the track during the weekend. After organisers of the race voiced concerns over the possibility that it would be cancelled if the Government of the United States barred air travel to Australia had the invasion of Afghanistan deteriorated, CART executives stated that the round would proceed as scheduled but with increased security. The chairman of the race Geoff Jones stated, "CART's outlook has been business as usual, they won't be bowing to terrorism."
Entering the race from Laguna Seca two weeks earlier, Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran led the Drivers' Championship with 179 points, 26 ahead of Kenny Brack of Team Rahal in second. With 141 points, Hélio Castroneves in the second Penske car was third, with Team Motorola's Michael Andretti placed fourth with 125 points and Dario Franchitti of Team Green fifth with 105 points. There were 44 points available for the final two rounds of the season, which meant de Ferran could win his second successive championship if he was 23 or more points ahead of Bräck leaving Australia. Honda had already won the Manufacturers' Championship at the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey as it had an unassailable lead of 316 points. Ford Cosworth and Toyota were equal on points with 266 apiece in second place. With 345 points, Reynard led the Constructors' Championship with an unchallenged advantage of 51 points over Lola.