Tony Kanaan

Tony Kanaan 2018

Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho , known as Tony Kanaan , (born December 31, 1974 in Salvador da Bahia ) is a Brazilian racing driver of Lebanese descent.

Kanaan won the Indy Lights championship in 1997 . From 1998 to 2002 he was active in the CART series. He started in the IndyCar Series from 2003 to 2016 , in which he won the championship in 2004. In 2013 he won the Indianapolis 500 .

Career

Beginnings in motorsport

Kanaan began his motorsport career in karting in 1985 , where he was active until 1990. In his later career he continued to take part in some kart races and won the 500 Milhas de Granja Viana six times (1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005). In 1991 he made his formula racing debut in the Brazilian Formula Ford 1600 and was sixth in the overall standings in his first season. A year later he entered the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet and finished fifth overall in this series.

In 1993 Kanaan moved to Europe and started half a season in the Formula Opel EuroSeries, placing himself in tenth place overall. He also took part in a race in the Italian Formula 3 championship . In 1994 he won the championship title of the Italian Formula Alfa Boxer. In 1995 he switched to the Italian Formula 3 championship and finished fifth in the overall standings with a win.

In 1996 Canaan returned to America and switched to Indy Lights . At Tasman Motorsports he became a teammate of Hélio Castro-Neves , with whom he has a long-standing friendship. He won two races and was runner-up behind the Canadian David Empringham . He also appeared as a replacement for Alexander Wurz in two races of the ITC . 1997 Kanaan stayed with Tasman Motorsports in the Indy Lights and won the championship title with 156 to 152 points before his teammate Castro-Neves.

CART

In 1998 , Kanaan stayed with Tasman Motorsports and competed in the CART series for the first time . With two third places as the best results, he finished ninth overall in his first season. In 1999 he moved to Forsythe Racing and became a teammate of Greg Moore and Patrick Carpentier . With a win at Michigan International Speedway , he finished the season one place behind Moore in eleventh place in the drivers' standings. The season was overshadowed by Moore's fatal accident, who had a fatal accident at the season finale.

In 2000 he moved to Mo Nunn Racing and became a teammate of Bryan Herta . Kanaan did not build on the successes from the previous season and finished 19th overall at the end of the season. 2001 Kanaan denied his fourth CART season and entered again for Mo Nunn Racing. He finished third and ninth overall. Kanaan was faster than his teammate Alex Zanardi , who was replaced by Casey Mears after his serious accident in which he lost both legs . In 2002 , Kanaan stayed with Mo Nunn Racing, which only used one racing car in this. Although Kanaan achieved two third places this season, at the end of the season he did not improve his result from the previous year and ended the season in twelfth place overall.

IndyCar Series

After he had already started in the pre-season for Mo Nunn Racing for the Indianapolis 500 , he switched to the IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing in 2003 , where he became a teammate of Dan Wheldon . Kanaan won a race and finished fourth overall ahead of his teammate, who finished eleventh, at the end of the season. In 2004 , Kanaan stayed with Andretti Green Racing, who used Herta and Dario Franchitti for the entire season this season alongside him and Wheldon . Kanaan won three races and won the championship title against Wheldon with 618 to 533 points. At the Indianapolis 500, he finished second this season, his best-ever placement in this race. He was also the only driver to complete every lap of his race and finished every race, apart from the season opener, among the top five drivers.

Tony Kanaan training for the Indianapolis 500 2007

In the 2005 season , Andretti Green Racing competed with the same driver line-up as in the previous year. As in the previous year, he dueled Wheldon for the title and this time had to give way to his team-mate. With 628 to 548 points, Kanaan, who had won two races, was runner-up. He was also one of five test drivers for the BAR Formula 1 racing team this year . 2006 Kanaan denied his fourth season in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Green Racing. His biggest rival, Wheldon, had left the team for Chip Ganassi Racing and had been replaced by Marco Andretti . Kanaan decided another race for himself at the end of the season as the best Andretti Green driver in sixth place overall. In 2007 , Kanaan got Danica Patrick , who joined the team for Herta, the first female teammate in his career. With five wins this season, no driver decided more races for himself than Kanaan, but it was not enough for the championship title and at the end of the season he was third in the drivers' standings behind his team-mate Franchitti, who won the championship, and Scott Dixon . In addition, Kanaan took part in a Formula Nippon race in 2007 and started three races in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in the LMP2 class for Andretti Green Motorsport. He won the LMP2 class once.

After the departure of Franchitti, who had been replaced by Hideki Mutoh , Kanaan became the team's number one pilot in 2008 . He lived up to expectations and was the best driver in his team before Patrick. At the end of the season, he again finished third in the overall standings with a win. In addition, he again completed two races in the ALMS for Andretti Green Motorsport, of which he won one. In 2009 , three third places were the best places for Kanaan, who in the overall standings as the second best Andretti Green driver, one place behind Patrick, was sixth overall. It was his first IndyCar season in which he did not win a race. In 2010 , Kanaan played his eighth season in the IndyCar Series for Andretti Autosport , the former Andretti Green team. In his team, Mutoh was replaced by Ryan Hunter-Reay . In the eighth race at the Iowa Speedway , he won his first race since 2008, in which he overtook his friend and compatriot Castroneves shortly before the end of the race. At the end of the season, he finished sixth overall as the best Andretti driver. After the season, Kanaan's main sponsor, 7-Eleven , ended working with him and Andretti. Canaan's treaty was then terminated.

Kanaan in KV-Dallara at the IndyCar race in Long Beach 2011

In December 2010, Kanaan and Gil de Ferran announced that Kanaan should contest the 2011 season for de Ferran Team de Ferran Dragon Racing . In February 2011, Kanaan finally announced that he lacked the budget to participate in the season. A week before the season opener he finally signed a contract with KV Racing Technology - Lotus . In his first race in the new team, Kanaan achieved a podium finish in third place. At the eighth event in Newton, he finished second in another race on the podium. In Baltimore , Kanaan crossed the finish line in third place again. He had previously been involved in a serious accident during the warm-up. At the Las Vegas Motor Speedway , Kanaan led the race from pole position. After a serious mass accident in which his former teammate Dan Wheldon was killed, the race was canceled and not counted. Kanaan finished the season as the best driver of his team in fifth place overall. In 2012 Kanaan completed another season for KV Racing Technology. The title sponsor Lotus had ended its engagement before the season because the team had opted for Chevrolet engines. His longtime friend Rubens Barrichello became one of his teammates this season. At the Indianapolis 500 , Kanaan achieved his first podium finish of the season in third. At the oval races in West Allis and Newton , further podium placements followed with a second and a third place. With ninth place overall, Kanaan was the best driver in his racing team. In addition, Kanaan competed as a guest starter in a race of the Stock Car Brasil .

In 2013 Kanaan got a new teammate at KV Racing Technology with Simona de Silvestro . In St. Petersburg he started the season with a fourth place. The next three races he did not achieve a top 10 placement. At the Indianapolis that followed , Kanaan started the race from twelfth place. He gradually worked his way up and was now in the lead. When the race was neutralized with the yellow flag three laps before the end, Kanaan was in front. After all, he won this race for the first time in his career. In the oval races in Fort Worth , Newton and Fontana , he reached third place on the podium. He finished the season in eleventh place overall and prevailed against de Silvestro with 397 to 362 points. It was Kanaan's first full season in the IndyCar Series that he didn't finish in the top 10 drivers' championship. He also competed in two races in the Rolex Sports Car Series . One each in the prototype and GT class.

In 2014 Kanaan moved to Chip Ganassi Racing within the IndyCar Series. At the sixth race in Detroit he reached another podium with a third place. After four more podium finishes in the next eleven races, Kanaan managed to win his first IndyCar race for Ganassi at the season finale in Fontana . Kanaan was internally defeated by Dixon and finished the season on the seventh championship course. In addition, Kanaan took part in two races of the United SportsCar Championship (USCC) for Ganassi in 2014 . In 2015 , Kanaan stayed with Ganassi in the IndyCar Series. At the season opener in St. Petersburg he was third, in Fort Worth and Fontana second. While his teammate Dixon won the championship, Kanaan reached eighth place overall. In the United SportsCar Championship in 2015 , Kanaan won the Daytona 24-hour race for Ganassi together with Dixon, Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray .

In 2016 , Kanaan completed its third IndyCar season for Ganassi. Second place in Elkhart Lake was his best result. One position behind his teammate Dixon, Kanaan finished seventh in the drivers' standings.

For the 2018 season , Kanaan had to leave Chip Ganassi's team because they only used two vehicles. He moved to AJ Foyt Enterprises . Ahead of the 2020 season , he announced that it would be his last and that he will only compete in the oval races.

Personal

Kanaan is a good friend of the Brazilian Formula 1 racing driver Rubens Barrichello. The two drivers exchanged their helmets for fun on May 28, 2006, so that Kanaan drove the Indianapolis 500 wearing Barrichello’s helmet , while Barrichello completed the Monaco Grand Prix wearing Kanaan's helmet .

He is also a long-time friend of Hélio Castroneves.

Tony Kanaan is also active as a triathlete and he started in Florida in November 2010 at the Triathlon World Championship on half the Ironman distance ( Ironman 70.3 : 1.9 km swimming, 90 km cycling and 21.1 km running). In 2011 he achieved a total time of 12: 52.40 hours at the Ironman Hawaii and came home as 1486th of 1918 participants.

Canaan is married for the second time. Every marriage has a son.

statistics

Career stations

1985–1990: karting 1991: Brazilian Formula Ford 1600 (6th place) 1992: Brazilian Formula Chevrolet (5th place) 1993: Formula Opel EuroSeries (10th place) 1993: Italian Formula 3 1994: Italian Formula Alfa Boxer (champion) 1995: Italian Formula 3 (5th place) 1996: Indy Lights (2nd place) 1996: ITCC 1997: Indy Lights (Master) 1998 : CART (9th place) 1999 : CART (11th place) 2000 : CART (19th place) 2001 : CART (9th place)

2002 : CART (12th place) 2002 : Indy Racing League (50th place) 2003 : IndyCar Series (4th place) 2004 : IndyCar Series (Champion) 2005 : IndyCar Series (2nd place) 2005 : Formula 1 (test driver) 2006 : IndyCar Series (6th place) 2007 : IndyCar Series (3rd place) 2007 : Formula Nippon 2007: ALMS , LMP2 (10th place) 2008 : IndyCar Series (3rd place) 2008: ALMS, LMP2 (14th place) 2009 : IndyCar Series (6th place) 2010 : IndyCar Series (6th place)

2011 : IndyCar Series (5th place) 2012 : IndyCar Series (9th place) 2013 : IndyCar Series (11th place) 2013: Rolex Sports Car Series , DP (39th place) 2014 : IndyCar Series (7th place) 2014 : USCC , Prototype (34th place) 2015 : IndyCar Series (8th place) 2015 : USCC, Prototype (23rd place) 2016 : IndyCar Series (7th place) 2017 : IndyCar Series (10th place) 2018 : IndyCar Series (16th place) 2019 : IndyCar Series (15th place)

Individual results in the IndyCar Series

year	team	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	Points	rank
2002	Mo Nunn Racing	HMS	PHX	HAIRDRYER	NZR	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	KTY	STL	CHI	TX2					2	50.
						28
2003	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PPI	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	STL	KTY	NZR	CHI	HAIRDRYER	TX2				476	4th
		4th	1	14th	3	2	2	5	4th	9	16	2	6th	18th	6th	3	14th
2004	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	PPI	NZR	CHI	HAIRDRYER	TX2				618	1.
		8th	1	2	2	1	5	3	1	4th	2	5	5	2	3	2	2
2005	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	PHX	STP	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	PPI	SNM	CHI	WGL	HAIRDRYER			548	2.
		3	3	2	6th	8th	3	19th	1	19th	4th	4th	20th	3	1	5	2	2
2006	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	Mil	MIS	KTY	SNM	CHI						388	6th
		11	3	3	5	11	7th	18th	5	12	1	4th	5	11	7th
2007	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	STP	MOT	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	MIS	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI			576	3.
		5	3	1	15th	12 *	1	2	16	4th	4th	18th	4th	1	1 *	4th	1	6th
2008	Andretti Green Racing	HMS	STP	MOT	LBH	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	SRF	513	3.
		8th	3	5		2	29	3	5	18th	1 *	3	4 *	7th	9	8th	3	3	4th	21st
2009	Andretti Green Racing	STP	LBH	KAN	INDY	Mil	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	GOAL	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT	HMS			386	6th
		5	3	3	27	19th	8th	14th	6th	8th	17th	21st	3	10	8th	13	11	4th
2010	Andretti Autosport	SAO	STP	ALA	LBH	KAN	INDY	TXS	IOW	WGL	GOAL	EDM	MDO	SNM	CHI	KTY	MOT	HMS			453	6th
		10	10	8th	5	3	11 32	6th	1	21st	4th	12	17th	7th	5	4th	7th	3
2011	KV Racing Technology - Lotus	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	TXS		Mil	IOW	GOAL	EDM	MDO	NHA	SNM	BAL	MOT	KTY	LSV		366	5.
		3	6th	8th	22nd	4 23	11	5	19th	2	26th	4th	5	22nd	28	3	17th	17th	C.
2012	KV Racing Technology	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	TXS	Mil	IOW	GOAL	EDM	MDO	SNM	BAL	HAIRDRYER					351	9.
		25th	21st	4th	13	3 8	6th	11	2	3	4th	18th	6th	10	20th	18th
2013	KV Racing Technology	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET		TXS	Mil	IOW	POC	GOAL		MDO	SNM	BAL	HOU		HAIRDRYER	397	11.
		4th	13	20th	21 °	1 ° 12	13	12 °	3	10	3	13 °	5	24	24	13 °	15th	21st	24	3 °
2014	Target Chip Ganassi Racing	STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	HOU		POC	IOW	GOAL		MDO	Mil	SNM	HAIRDRYER		544	7th
		6th	18th	9	10	26 ° 23	3	9	6th	13	10	11 *	3 *	3	2	21st	3 °	13 °	1 °
2015	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	STP	NOL	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	GOAL	HAIRDRYER	Mil	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM				431	8th.
		3	6th	5	13	7th	26 °	20th	13	2 °	6 °	2 °	6 °	21 °	5	19 °	4 °
2016	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	STP	PHO	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	TXS	WGL	SNM				461	7th
		9	4th	6th	8th	25th	4 ° 18	9	7th	2	7th	4 °	12	9 °	3 °	19th	13
2017	Chip Ganassi Racing Teams	STP	LBH	ALA	PHO	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	STL	WGL	SNM			403	10.
		12	15th	7th	6th	20th	5 ° 7	15th	10	2 °	21st	9	19th	16	5 °	16	20th	16
2018	AJ Foyt Enterprises	STP	PHO	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	IOW	GOAL	MDO	POC	STL	POR	SNM			312	16.
		12	15th	7th	6th	20th	5 ° 7	15th	10	2 °	21st	9	19th	16	5 °	16	20th	16
2019	AJ Foyt Enterprises	STP	COA	ALA	LBH	IMS	INDY	DET		TXS	ROA	GOAL	IOW	MDO	POC	STL	POR	LAG			304	15th
		15th	12	18th	19th	20th	9 16	15th	22nd	16	21st	17th	10	20th	8th	3	12	16
2020	AJ Foyt Enterprises	TXS	IMS	ROA		IOW		MDO		INDY	STL		IMS		STP						51	23.
		10				18th	11

Remarks

1. ↑ Took place on the same day as the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
2. ↑ Took place on the same day as the Indy Japan 300.
3. ↑ No points were awarded.

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2017	Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA	Ford GT	Dirk Mueller	Joey hand	Rank 22
2018	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ford GT	Harry Tincknell	Andy Priaulx	Rank 30

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
2007	Andretti Green Racing Inc.	Acura ARX-01a	Marino Franchitti	Bryan Herta	Rank 2 and class win
2014	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	Riley Mk.XXVI	Scott Dixon	Say Karam	Rank 6

Web links

Commons : Tony Kanaan  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Official website of Tony Kanaan
• Career Stats Tony Kanaan (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} "Canaan and the smile under the helmet" (Motorsport-Total.com on June 21, 2010)
2. ^ "Official: AGR becomes Andretti Autosport" (Motorsport-Total.com on November 25, 2009)
3. ^ "Shock for Andretti: Kanaan's future is shaking massively" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 5, 2010)
4. ^ "Official: Kanaan is leaving Andretti!" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 29, 2010)
5. ^ "A Christmas present for Tony Kanaan" (Motorsport-Total.com on December 20, 2010)
6. ↑ “Big question marks about Kanaan and Legge” (Motorsport-Total.com on February 23, 2011)
7. ↑ "Official: Kanaan starts for KV-Lotus!" (March 21, 2011)
8. ↑ "Warmup: Tony Kanaan's serious crash!" (Motorsport-Total.com on September 4, 2011)
9. ↑ “KV goes with Chevy, re-signs Tony Kanaan”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (indystar.com on August 29, 2011)  
10. ↑ “Rubens Barrichello commits to full IndyCar season with KV Racing” (autosport.com on March 1, 2012)
11. ↑ Jim Peltz: “Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan to join Chip Ganassi's team in 2014”. latimes.com, October 4, 2013, accessed October 25, 2013 . 
12. ↑ Markus Lüttgens: Ganassi confirms Tony Kanaan for the IndyCar season 2016. Motorsport-Total.com, November 3, 2015, accessed on January 2, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Mario Fritzsche, Co-Author: David Malsher-Lopez: Tony Kanaan's Farewell Tour: IndyCar Part-Time Program 2020. Motorsport-Total.com, January 30, 2020, accessed on May 22, 2020 . 
14. ^ Five great years in Clearwater
15. ^ "Hawaii: Kanaan and Meira as real ironmen" (Motorsport-Total.com on October 9, 2011)
16. ↑ Mario Fritzsche: Canaan father for the second time. Motorsport-Total.com, January 14, 2015, accessed February 7, 2015 .