JOURDAIN HOPEFUL FOR BETTER LUCK THIS TIME AROUND.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

Michel Jourdain Jr.'s qualifying run in last year's Grand Prix of Long Beach was in a word, heartbreaking.

The Mexican driver was on the pole after the first session of qualifying. Then a shower dumped enough water on the temporary street course to force the second group, the fast group, to use tread tires rather than slicks. The second group's times were considerably slower and Jourdain looked like he was assured of the pole.

But with about five minutes to go in the second qualifying session, the rain stopped, the sun came out and the track began to dry. Cars came in to switch tires and as the drivers made their final laps, Jourdain's time began to slip down the qualifying order.

By the time the qualifying was done, Helio Castroneves won the pole. Jourdain fell to seventh. Considering Castroneves led from pole to finish in last year's Long Beach race, Jourdain's loss is even more heartbreaking.

``It was just that last year was not fair,'' Jourdain said. ``We had a very good car and we should have been able to fight for the pole with the same circumstances for everybody.''

But rather than wonder about what if, Jourdain is more concerned with what will be. He is driving for a new team, Team Rahal, one of the more successful CART teams in the series. But more important, Jourdain won't have to worry about a split qualifying session in this year's Long Beach Grand Prix.

That was thrown out by new CART president and CEO Chris Pook. He also threw out a handful of other stupid rules that have hampered the series over the last couple of years.

This year, every car in the series will be qualifying at the same time, unlike previous years when the top cars in the series qualified together.

The top drivers also had the advantage of qualifying after the drivers in the bottom half of the points standings turned laps on a cold track and laid rubber down for the faster cars.

Jourdain is correct in saying that qualifying conditions on street and road courses in the past have been unfair. They have been bordering on elitist.

But the new qualifying rules are not the only changes that have been made this year. Mandatory pit stops, traction control and points and front-row position awarded for provisional qualifying have also been added this season.

After the first race in Monterrey, Mexico, many of the drivers have voiced their approval of the rule changes.

``It's more exciting,'' said driver/owner Adrian Fernandez of Mexico, who scored two points by winning the provisional and race pole in Monterrey. ``Now you're fighting for a point. You should have seen the show in Mexico. And now you have 15 laps to qualify. So it's not like you can just go down there and pound laps. And now everyone's together, so it's a lot fairer.

``Last year, the guys in the front of the championship go first, so you never recover because the track always gets better. So you never get to qualify in the top 12 and it was just a bad deal and took forever.''

Qualifying has always been important at Long Beach. The tight turns and imposing walls have created problems in passing. The drivers out front at the start are usually the ones out front at the end. Especially in last year's race, in which not passing for the lead seemed to be an unwritten rule. No driver was able to get by Castroneves.

This year's version of the Grand Prix of Long Beach promises to be more entertaining. Qualifying is assured of being more exciting. Passing during the race should be easier and, hopefully, more frequent. With mandatory pit stops, drivers should be going flat out knowing that fuel management is not going to help them win the race.

The race track is more even this year with the new rules.

``This is where Chris Pook is very good,'' Fernandez said. ``I have a lot of faith in him. He's looking at the big picture and I think Chris will elevate CART to the next level.

``I have a sense with the way he's doing things - I feel we hit bottom and we're in the race big time now.''

THIS WEEKEND'S RACES

NASCAR WINSTON CUP Virginia 500

Site: Martinsville, Va.

Schedule: Today, qualifying (Fox Sports Net, noon); Sunday, race (FX, 9:30 a.m.).

Track: Martinsville Speedway (oval, 0.526 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 500 laps, 263 miles.

Last race: Matt Kenseth won Monday's rain-delayed Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Kenseth only had five laps of practice on Friday after blowing his engine and none on Saturday because of rain.

Last year: Dale Jarrett employed the super tire strategy, using fresher rubber to pass teammate Ricky Rudd with five laps to go and winning the Virginia 500.

Next race: Talladega 500, April 21, Talladega, Ala.

On the net: www.nascar.com

FORMULA ONE San Marino Grand Prix 

Site: Imola, Italy

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, (Speedvision, 4 a.m.); Sunday, race, (Speedvision, 4:30 a.m.).

Track: Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome (road course, 3.057 miles, 15 turns).

Race distance: 189.906 miles, 62 laps.

Last race: Michael Schumacher escaped a first-lap crash unscathed and went on to win the Brazilian Grand Prix on March 31, his second victory this season. Ralf Schumacher, who beat his brother at Kuala Lumpur the previous week, mounted a late challenge and finished .588 seconds behind for second.

Last year: Ralf Schumacher ended a 3 1/2-year drought for his Williams-BMW team, winning the San Marino Grand Prix for his first career victory.

Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, April 28, Barcelona.

On the net: www.formula1.com

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THIS WEEKEND'S RACES (see text)