ROOKIE GIVING FRENCH GOOD NAME.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

The French have been getting a lot of grief lately - especially from Americans.

American legislators have changed the name of French fries to freedom fries.

American restaurant owners have been flushing thousands of dollars of French wine down the sewers.

It seems like any day now, Americans are going to start dismantling the Statue of Liberty and ship it back to France one piece at a time.

Because of the French government's unwillingness to join the United States-led effort to attack Iraq, the French have been made the unwitting target of American ridicule.

Maybe a French race car driver can help change some of that.

Sebastien Bourdais, the rookie driver for Newman-Haas Racing on the CART Champ Car World Series, stunned his counterparts when he won the pole for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida last month. He became the first CART rookie to win a pole in his first event since Nigel Mansell in 1993.

He continued his qualifying dominance by winning the pole for today's race, the Tecate Telmex Grand Prix in Monterrey, Mexico, an unprecedented second in a row for a CART rookie.

Although most Americans are looking for anything French to hate, Bourdais is one Frenchman who is hard to dislike.

One trip to his Web site, Sebastien-Bourdais.com, and his feistiness is as evident as his competitiveness.

``He sets out being hungry for finally hanging the eleventh position, that is to say two new points for the championship. Paul Tracy gets the victory, but he does not certainly forget that Sebastien was the fastest during all the race ... Let's meet in fifteen days for the revenge,'' Bourdais says on his Web site regarding the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Bourdais' initiation into the world of Champ Car racing was met with mixed results. He brought out the fastest car in qualifying, no big surprise considering last year's driver, Christian Fittipaldi, won a handful of races and pole positions with essentially the same team.

But Bourdais ran into trouble when he hit a wall during the race and damaged his suspension. He went from leading the race to being one of the last drivers to earn points.

``It was a big satisfaction, a dreamy weekend all along,'' Bourdais said. ``I didn't come through as I expected, though.''

Certainly he had his problems. But if anything, Bourdais showed after the first race of the season that he has a car with which to be reckoned.

``I just try to keep focused on the good points,'' Bourdais said. ``It's the best way to succeed: Concentrate on what you can do. I can feel all the people who are passionate around this team.''

Driving for Newman-Haas does carry with it a sense of pride. Some of open-wheel racing's legendary names - Mansell, Fittipaldi, Mario and Michael Andretti, Cristiano da Matta - have raced for the team. Bourdais seems to understand he is a part of racing heritage to which fans flock.

Da Matta won the only two events at the Fundidora Park street course in Monterrey, Mexico, site of today's race. As a result, Bourdais knows expectations are high to continue the success of the Newman-Haas entries.

``What I know about Monterrey is that Newman-Haas has a really good car there and they won the last two races, so I think we have a good chance to run well,'' Bourdais said. ``It is a pretty low-grip track and the layout is nice from what I know. I have heard that I would enjoy the race at Monterrey. I am looking forward to racing again. It is going to be a learning lesson, for sure, but the important thing will be to see how quick we will learn together.''

As stated on his Web site, the Frenchman has revenge on his mind. And if he can stay off the walls, he won't have much standing in his way.

``If we can learn from our mistakes and move on, it is going to determine how well the season progresses,'' Bourdais said. ``We will probably be able to win some races this year, but I don't know if we will be able to battle for the championship. The car is good so it's creating a lot of expectations. We will make the most of it.''

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