THE NEXT BIG THING? In Champ Cars, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais could be it.(News)

Byline: BILL McGUIRE

Nineteen cars answered the bell for the Champ Car World Series season opener at St. Petersburg this past week. What with the recent upheaval in the series, rookies piloted nine of the 19 cars. While talent needs to come into the series to keep it vibrant, this year's CART crop might prove to be a mixed bag.

One rookie firmly asserted his talent upon arrival, even among the veterans. Sebastien Bourdais had set the pace at the first open test at Laguna Seca, and again at spring training at Sebring in February. In his CART racing debut at St. Pete, Bourdais was quickest in nearly every practice session, and then stuck his Newman-Haas Lola on the pole, which put him in some fast company. Former Formula One and CART champion Nigel Mansell last did that feat in 1993 in his CART rookie event.

Bourdais, who hails from Le Mans, France, turns 24 this week. Yes, he's done some sports car racing-at Le Mans for Henri Pescarolo, and he won the 24 Hours of Spa co-driving the Team Labre Viper. Bourdais is also the 2002 champion in the FIA's F3000 series; he earned seven poles, seven podium finishes and three wins there, catching the eye of the Renault F1 team. He tested with Renault in December, but the surplus of F1 drivers (or better said, the shortage of seats) left him available. Newman-Haas scooped him up.

``I think the folks in Formula One made a mistake,'' says his race engineer Craig Hampson. Hampson, a 10-year Newman-Haas veteran, has worked with some of the best, including Mansell, Mario and Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy and last year's CART champ Cristiano da Matta. Hampson's checklist for prospective drivers is detailed, and in his mind Bourdais has the goods.

``Well, he's obviously fast. I mean, that goes without saying,'' says Hampson. ``But beyond just blinding speed, we're looking for some intangibles in a driver. First is dedication to the job. We see intelligence in his approach to motor racing, the car setup, the compromises that need to be made on the track.

``There are other things,'' Hampson adds. ``Does his style fit in with ours? We are a real engineering-driven organization, and we put a lot of effort in car prep, analysis of the data and building our understanding of the car. Does he work in the same direction, use the same approach? Finally, does he work and get along with the crew? Is he a nice guy? It means a lot to the mechanics to have a guy who's their friend. If you look at what Cristiano [da Matta] did here last year in winning the championship for us, he did something very, very special. A great personality, very fast in qualifying, a real dedication to setting up the car, and he could put it together for the race. We see a lot of those same things in Sebastien.''