RAHAL READY FOR RAIN; VETERAN, HERTA START IN FRONT.

Byline: Allen Wolfe Long Beach Press-Telegram 

It rained on Team Rahal's parade and, boy, did they love it.

The skies over the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach opened Saturday in the form of persistent showers. It was the first time in the event's 24-year history that inclement conditions played a role in the outcome of the program.

``We didn't do any rain dances, so you can't blame this on me,'' said Bobby Rahal, trying unsuccessfully to hide a smile.

Even so, Rahal and teammate Bryan Herta were the beneficiaries in this wet weather, retaining both front-row starting spots for today's 105-lap FedEx Championship Series race, based on their qualifying times from Friday's first round that was conducted under overcast skies but on a dry racing surface.

Herta's clocking of 50.945 seconds at 111.226 mph paced the field of 29 cars and drivers and set a course record. Rahal was only a stopwatch tick behind at 51.036 seconds at 111.028 mph.

Adrian Fernandez of Mexico, the winner of last week's Budweiser 500 at Motegi, Japan, is on the second row with Brazilian Gaulter Salles, whose fourth-place starting position for Payton/Coyne Racing is the best of his career. Gil de Ferran, the pole position winner at Long Beach in both 1996 and 1997, is in the third row with Michael Andretti, winner of the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami on March 15.

Team Rahal became the first team to sweep the front row of a CART event since PacWest Racing accomplished the feat last season at Road America with Mauricio Gugelmin on the pole and Mark Blundell on the outside. Rahal's front-row effort matched his best previous Long Beach start, in 1985.

Herta claimed his fourth pole position and first on a street circuit. He picked up $20,000 for winning the Marlboro Pole Award and can win another $150,000 today if he wins the race from the pole. Born in Valencia, the 27-year-old Herta is a four-year CART veteran but will be going for his first victory in 57 races today.

Rahal, 45, winner of 24 Indy car events in 17 seasons, hasn't claimed a victory since the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth on Oct. 4, 1992. That was 85 races ago. Rahal has never won at Long Beach, although he has four runner-up finishes: 1988, '91, '92 and '93.

``It's good for any team, I think, when good things happen,'' said Herta. ``You start feeling good. You have some momentum. We're hoping this is going to be the start of big things for this team. This is a huge boost for us.''

Rahal emphasized the importance of starting the race up front.

``Being on the front row here is definitely a big advantage,'' said the native of Medina, Ohio, ``because you're only dealing with one other guy. I've started far back here before, mid-pack, and it's no fun. Those first couple of laps are nerve-wracking.

``I'm looking forward to seeing clean air in front of me and having a good race with Bryan tomorrow.''

Time trials, if you can call them that, were conducted Saturday afternoon in a steady downpour. Drivers were forced to use high-profile rain tires to navigate the course, kicking up huge ``roostertails'' of spray off the back of their cars while going down the Shoreline Drive and Seaside Way straightaways.

Visibility was at a premium, according to Herta.

``You have two very fast straightaways, and speed is what really pulls the water up into the air,'' he said. ``It's hard to get outside of where the mist is, because the track's pretty narrow. You were running blind if you were close to anybody.''

Six-time Long Beach race winner Al Unser Jr. echoed Herta's statements.

``Going down Shoreline (Drive), you can't see until you get well into the braking area (approaching Turn 1),'' he said. ``You can see fairly well in the slow corners, but the straights are just a big mess.''

Most teams took advantage of Saturday's one-hour session to prepare for the possibility of the first wet-weather Indy car race ever held over the 8-turn, 1.574-mile circuit.

No driver approached the times posted during Friday's qualifying. Christian Fittipaldi came the closest, winning the unofficial title of ``hydromeister.'' His time was 60.952 seconds at 92.965 mph, still far off his first-round qualifying time of 51.446 at 110.143.

The U.S. Weather Service in Los Angeles was predicting afternoon rain showers today with the possibility of thunderstorms.

Most teams said they had been monitoring the weather reports over the last two days and are expecting a wet run to the checkered flag.

``There are two things you have to keep in mind when you run in the rain,'' said Herta. ``First, obviously you have to brake sooner and go a lot slower through the corners and, second, I think you tend to do a lot more reacting to the car in the rain.

``In the dry, you kind of have an idea, well, `When I get to this corner, the car's probably going to push things like that.' In the rain, the car doesn't necessarily do what you think it's going to do.''

The unforgiving concrete barriers at Long Beach could play a major role today, according to Unser Jr.

``If it rains, the biggest thing that everybody is going to have to watch out for is tapping the wall,'' he said. ``Once you tap the wall, your pieces are bent. Maybe you can get by with it once or twice, but sooner or later it's gonna bite you and put you out of the race.''

Defending CART champion Alex Zanardi, driving for Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, starts today's race in 11th place, while teammate and 1996 champion Jimmy Vasser sits in 20th.

``We have a few things in mind we'll try if the weather stays miserable,'' said Zanardi, who crashed during Friday's qualifying and did not have an opportunity to improve his time. ``It's disappointing we had the problems we had (Friday). I think we showed in each of the practice sessions that we have the speed, so our position on the grid is not where we belong. But (today) is another day.''

Mark Blundell, winner of three races last year for PacWest Racing, will start 23rd, while teammate Mauricio Gugelmin is 22nd.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Map

Photo: Former Valencia resident Bryan Herta creates a cloud of mist as he heads down a Long Beach straightaway preparing for today's Grand Prix.

Reed Saxon/Associated Press

Map: LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX 

Gregg Miller/Daily News