| 1993 CART season | |
|---|---|
| PPG Indy Car World Series | |
 Nigel Mansell | |
| Season | |
| Races | 16 |
| Start date | March 21 |
| End date | October 3 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |  Nigel Mansell |
| Constructors' Cup | Lola |
| Manufacturers' Cup |  Chevrolet |
| Nations' Cup |  Brazil |
| Rookie of the Year | Nigel Mansell |
| Indianapolis 500 winner | Emerson Fittipaldi |
The 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 15th national championship season of American open wheel racing sanctioned by CART under the name "IndyCar". The season consisted of 16 races. Nigel Mansell was the national champion as well as the Rookie of the Year. The 1993 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned by USAC, but counted towards the CART points championship. Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500, his second career victory in that event.
The biggest story going into the season involved Newman/Haas Racing. Nigel Mansell, the reigning Formula One World Champion switched from Formula One to the CART IndyCar Series. Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing as teammate to Mario Andretti, taking the seat formerly held by Michael Andretti, who departed for one year to McLaren. Mansell came to the American open wheel series with considerable fanfare and huge media attention. He won the season-opener at Surfers Paradise, the first CART "rookie" to win his first start. At Phoenix, Mansell crashed during practice and was forced to sit out the race due to a back injury. At Indianapolis, he was leading the race with 16 laps to go when he was passed on a restart by Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk, and wound up third. He still won the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year award. Despite having missed the race at Phoenix, Mansell won five races (four of which were on ovals) en route to the CART championship. His team Newman/Haas Racing would still manage to win the one oval race Mansell missed with Mario Andretti scoring his 52nd and final victory of his IndyCar career at Phoenix, Andretti would finish 6th in the final championship standings.
After winning his third CART championship in 1992, Bobby Rahal entered the 1993 season driving the R/H chassis (formerly the Truesports chassis). He finished second at Long Beach, but struggled to get his car up to speed, and failed to qualify at Indianapolis. He would run the remainder of the season with a 1993 Lola chassis, but with no victories. He did however finish 4th in points.
The 1993 schedule originally included plans for the Meadowlands Grand Prix to move to a street circuit in Manhattan on the roads surrounding the World Trade Center and West Street. The race was planned to be held on July 13, 1993. However, the race was cancelled in September 1992 due to cost and conflicts between sponsor Marlboro and Mayor David Dinkins' anti-tobacco advertising policies.[1][2]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
23 March 2002was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Siano, Anthony (2 February 1992). "Grand Prix Gridlock: Where Else but City?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2011.