Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
A year ago, he became the first rookie since Nigel Mansell to capture pole position in his first two starts in the Champ Car World Series before going on to claim three more poles, win three races and finish fourth in final points.
This year, he has won five of the nine races so far, and is coming off a Sunday drive through the streets of downtown Denver during which he passed everything that moved, with the possible exception of John Elway and Pete Coors.
So you didn't have to be Dr. Carl Sagan to discover that of the 15 drivers who were on hand for Wednesday's Champ Car open test session at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the brightest star belongs to 25-year-old Sebastien Bourdais of Le Mans, France, the world's most famous 24-hour city next to ours.
Given his birthplace, it was probably preordained that Bourdais was going to grow up fast. But that he has done it so quickly has impressed almost everybody that hangs out in the fast lane, even those alongside him on the starting grid.
Until Wednesday, the last time a race car driver complimented a rival might have been when Stirling Moss thanked Juan Manuel Fangio for a lift back to his hotel in 1956. But you can add Las Vegan Patrick Carpentier to Bourdais' growing list of fans, and it's not just because they both parlez vous Francais.
"He's ver-r-r-y good," said Carpentier, whose helmet visor Wednesday had just stopped spinning after Bourdais passed him and 11 other cars on a Mile High and tight circuit where overtaking is supposed to be difficult, if not impossible. "You could see it last year, but he was very unlucky last year.
"The team (Bourdais drives for Newman -- as in Paul -- Haas Racing, the same organization which launched and/or nurtured the careers of Mario and Michael Andretti and Formula One's Cristiano da Matta) has great cars. But he's very talented, too."
As Bourdais proved at Denver. He had qualified on pole but after tangling with teammate Bruno Juqueira, his closet pursuer in the championship, in the very first corner, Bourdais spun off and restarted the race in a distant 13th place. But when the checkered flag fell, Bourdais was 7.446 seconds ahead of the second place car, driven by Paul Tracy, another Las Vegan. The rest of field was still somewhere near Colorado Springs.
"Oh, man, it was pretty impressive actually," Carpentier said of the way Bourdais carved his way back to the front. "We haven't seen that since the days of (Alex) Zanardi."
Zanardi, who might have been Italy's most popular export to America since pepperoni pizza, won two Champ Car titles to rekindle his Formula One career. His seat was taken by Juan Montoya, who also conquered Champ Car (then known as CART) on his way to F-1.
Carpentier said if the sanctioning body is looking to put a new man on the Champ Car-to-Formula One springboard, Bourdais is it.
"Yeah, I think so," he said just before the Champ Cars began turning 200-mph laps in preparation for their Las Vegas debut next month. "If you are talking about Formula One and what he is going to do, he is so strong and he has the attitude to succeed in Formula One. A guy like Zanardi was almost too nice. Same thing with Cristiano da Matta.
"Some guys are made for Formula One and some guys are not. I think Sebastien is."
But while he has done a great job convincing his Champ Car rivals that he has what it takes to make the quantum leap back across the pond, Bourdais hasn't convinced himself that's what he wants to do.
Like every kid who grows up racing cars in Europe, he aspired to be the next Michael Schumacher all the way up to winning the F3000 championship, Formula One's top developmental series, in 2002. With the up-and-coming Renault team based in his homeland, Bourdais appeared headed for a bright and prosperous future in F-1 before a falling out with Flavio Briatore, an Italian who owns the team, hastened his arrival in America.
Briatore is a bazillionaire who recently broke off a lengthy relationship with supermodel Heidi Klum. He's probably not the first guy an aspiring F-1 driver would want to get on the wrong side of, a truth Bourdais learned when he refused to retain Briatore as his manager.
"He's not going to hire a driver he doesn't have a management contract with," said Bourdais, who had misgivings about paying his team owner when he had always heard it should be the other way around. "So Renault is not an option for me."
But the good thing, if you're an American open-wheel racing fan, is that Bourdais doesn't seem all broken up about it, mostly because he is having such a good time exploring the fast tracks of North America. If Bourdais keeps this up, Louis Joliet might have company.
"Here, everybody knows everybody. You can hang out together after the races," said Bourdais, who with his glasses, high cheekbones and fair complexion, looks like a choirboy but drives like the devil.
"It's like Formula One was 20 years ago. There was more of a human element. Today in Formula One, they are like robots. They can never say what they want. It's not pure motor racing anymore. The sport has had to back off in the best interest of the business."
Still, with all but the possible exception of the rubes who hang out on Daytona Beach, Formula One remains the pinnacle of the motor racing world. Bourdais admits that F-1 is a dream that does not pass from one's consciousness at 220 mph.
"On the other hand, those are the fastest cars in the world," he said. "But I don't want to go into Formula One just to go into Formula One. Right now, I have a great sponsor on my car with McDonald's. I have a great team, I'm winning races, leading the championship and having fun. And making good money. So I am not even sure that if I go into Formula One I will be making more money."
But after he was through speaking francs, Boudais began speaking frankly. He said given the downward turn that Zanardi and da Matta took in Formula One after each won two championships here, he's open to spending another year or two in America.
"Maybe more than that," he said. "If I have to do a career here, I am fine with it. You see what happened with Cristiano. He was in a bad situation (with a new team) but they showed him no respect.
"They dropped him like a pair of socks."
Bourdais, who speaks English well but with that lilting French accent that makes the Cannes Film Festival so delightful, then uttered something under his breath.
It sounded sort of like Sacre bleu!, only with a lot more syllables and hard consonant sounds.
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