Press Snoop: Veteran fastest in green field.

It's Monterrey in May for the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford and its support series, the Toyota Atlantic Championship, running the Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Presented by Roshfrans at Fundidora Parque.

This is the fifth year for Champ Car and the fourth year for the Atlantics on the 2.104-mile Mexican course described as an 'urban road course'. The races are run on streets, but there are grassy run-offs instead of a concrete tunnel. But make no mistake...there are barriers beyond the grass. Just like the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, the track is a city park during the 'off' season. It is open to pedestrians, cyclists and 'service vehicles' - but not city traffic because of those on foot and two wheels.

The weather has been and is forecast to continue hot and humid. Despite the overcast, it is warm.

Thursday, many drivers and teams were out walking it, driving it and otherwise making it around the Fundidora Parque course. Rookie Atlantic driver CHARLES ZWOLSMAN and others described it as 'slippery', but the young Dutchman commented that it will be the same for all drivers, so not to worry. Rookie Atlantic driver, MARK ISHIKAWA and crew chief, STAN CLAYTON, noted that the street surface seems to have less aggregate than usual city streets. Ishikawa and Clayton are dialling in more downforce. Ishikawa said, after his track walk, that the track, that it was a very technical track.

TONY BRUNETTI, former racer and long-time Forsythe Racing VP/operations manager has handled race track operations for GERRY FORSYTHE since the Monterrey track came into being in 2000. One of the three Champ Car World Series co-owners, Forsythe as part of his Forsythe Racing, was a moving force behind bringing Champ Car racing to Mexico. Forsythe Racing was instrumental in both the Fundidora Park track and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City-another urban road course. Forsythe Racing also was/is behind the Champ Car race in Surfer's Paradise in Queensland, Australia - an urban street course. Those three tracks still hold Champ Car races. Rockingham, the only oval in England, was one developed by Forsythe Racing and held Champ Car races in 2002 and 2003.

Brunetti knows the ins and outs of both Fundidora Park and Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. He commented Thursday night that the street surface could have just been a result of a different mix, and echoed prior comments that the track would be the same for all drivers and it is usually the new drivers who notice the surface differences.

Another Forsythe Championship Racing 'employee' will be getting to know more about the track this weekend. Mexican driver MARIO DOMINGUEZ will be the pilot for the Champ Car two-seater, giving track rides to lucky folks all weekend.

Also putting in their time making laps around the park are this weekend's four female drivers for the Champ Car pace cars - STACY KUHN, LINDA POBST, GAIL TRUESS, and KELLY WILLIAMS.

Another Champ Car group which gets to drive its official vehicles around are the Champ Car safety crew, which has 13 of its 17 members here this weekend, plus two doctors.

The Atlantic Series has 13 drivers this weekend, with twelve of them rookies. Two have raced before in Monterrey - DAVID MARTINEZ is a very last minute addition to the field, driving #7 Swift 014.a. for US RaceTronics. That's a mouthful. Martinez raced in the 2002 Atlantic race in Monterrey, for Condor Motorsports. The following year he came back and raced in the Barber Dodge Pro Series race, outdoing himself for the hometown crowd. He took the lead on the first lap and never looked back on his way to Victory Circle.

In that same 2003 Barber race was ANTOINE BESSETTE. He started this year's Long Beach Atlantic race on the pole after fastest qualifier, Zwolsman, lost his time due to a technical infraction. Bessette narrowly lost the race to his team-mate, KATHERINE LEGGE, while Zwolsman charged from the back - where he had been relegated after losing his fast time - to finish third.

Legge became the first female to win a major open-wheel race in North America. This weekend Legge is featured in a four-minute segment on CNN's World Sport programme. She's sponsored, in part, by Champ Car team, PKV Racing. At this point, Legge has enough sponsorship to run through the Portland race in June, and is in hopes of generating more funding to finish out the season.

The only non-rookie in the Atlantic field is TONIS KASEMETS of Estonia, who is now a naturalised citizen. He was fastest throughout the entire the morning session, improving his run three times. On lap 16, he turned a time of 1min 30.517secs. Although he has now run seven Atlantic races, Monterrey is not one of them, so he too will be new to the track.

One of the twelve rookies missed Thursday's drivers' meeting as he was busy taking college finals. KYLE KELLEY is a sophomore and sent dad, BOB KELLEY, a former SCCA club racer, to the meeting. Dad is the team's race engineer on the ex-Rahal car.

This year's Atlantic C2 points leader and winner of the season's opener race at LBGP, JASON SOFIO, was unable to make the race, but hopes to return for the West Coast swing.

TOM NASTASI is still running a C2 car, one of three in this week's field. He is in hopes of bringing his car up to Championship specs by the next race. Basically, the difference between Championship specs and C2 cars are the latter category includes cars with older engines and/or chassis.

One team which has already upgraded its car into the Championship class is US RaceTronics, with local lad, Martinez.

RYAN DALZIEL holds the Atlantic qualifying lap record and the race Lap record, both set in last year's race. For qualifying, he ran 1min 24.753secs and he was even faster in the race, with a 1min 24.693secs effort.