The drivers

1 Bruno Junqueira

TEAM: Newman/Haas Racing.

AGE: 26.

BIRTH PLACE: Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

NOTABLE: Finished second in last year's standings, winning two races in his second year on the circuit. Replaced last year's champion, Cristiano da Matta, on the Newman/Haas team.

2 Sebastien Bourdais

TEAM: Newman/Haas Racing.

AGE: Turns 24 Feb. 28.

BIRTH PLACE: Le Mans, France.

NOTABLE: A rookie who made a splash with fast times in offseason testing, he won the F300 championship last season. Has competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times.

3 Paul Tracy

TEAM: Player's/Forsythe Racing.

AGE: 34.

BIRTH PLACE: Scarborough, Ontario.

NOTABLE: Selected as CART's most popular driver last year, he placed 11th in the standings. Finished a career-best third in 1993, '94 and '99. His 19 CART victories rank first among active drivers.

4 Roberto Moreno

TEAM: Herdez Competition.

AGE: 44.

BIRTH PLACE: Rio de Janeiro.

NOTABLE: A veteran who has started more than 100 Champ Car races, he finished third in the 2000 standings. In 1990 and '91, he was 10th in the Formula One standings.

5 Rodolfo Lavin

TEAM: Walker Racing.

AGE: 25.

BIRTH PLACE: San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

NOTABLE: A Champ Car rookie, he finished in the top 10 in two seasons of competition on the Toyota Atlantic series.

7 Tiago Monteiro

TEAM: Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing.

AGE: 26

BIRTH PLACE: Portugal.

NOTABLE: The Champ Car rookie raced F3000 last year as a teammate to Newman/Haas driver Sebastien Bourdais.

9 Michel Jourdain Jr.

TEAM: Team Rahal.

AGE: 26.

BIRTH PLACE: Mexico City.

NOTABLE: Led the series by completing 2,295 of a possible 2,338 laps in 2002 but finished 10th in the standings. Son of former CART racer Michel Jourdain and the nephew of Bernard Jourdain, the 1989 Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year.

11 Roberto Gonzalez

TEAM: Dale Coyne Racing.

AGE: 26.

BIRTH PLACE: Monterrey, Mexico.

NOTABLE: Champ Car rookie had four top-10 finishes in the Telefonica World Series last season.

12 Jimmy Vasser

TEAM: American Spirit Team Johansson.

AGE: 37.

BIRTH PLACE: Canoga Park, Calif.

NOTABLE: A veteran of 186 Champ Car starts, he is with a new team after placing seventh in last season's standings. He won the 1996 CART championship and is the only active series driver with a Champ Car title. Has won more than $10-million in CART competition.

15 Darren Manning

TEAM: Walker Racing.

AGE: 27.

BIRTH PLACE: North Yorkshire, England.

NOTABLE: The former F3000 standout started one Champ Car race last season in his native England, leading 18 laps before finishing ninth. Also served as a test driver for F1's British American Racing the past two years.

19 Joel Camathias

TEAM: Dale Coyne Racing.

AGE: Turned 22 Feb. 9.

BIRTH PLACE: Lugano, Switzerland.

NOTABLE: Champ Car rookie had a great-uncle, Florian, who was a world-class sidecar motorcycle racer and father, Romeo, who earned a Formula One International superlicense.

20 Oriol Servia

TEAM: Visteon/Patrick Racing.

AGE: 28.

BIRTH PLACE: Pals, Catalonia, Spain.

NOTABLE: Finished 16th in 2002 standings. Received his first off-road motorcycle from his father, Salvadore, when he was 2 years old. Salvadore is a two-time Spanish Rally champion.

27 Patrick Lemarie

TEAM: PK Racing.

AGE: 35.

BIRTH PLACE: Paris.

NOTABLE: The former test driver for F1's British American Racing is driving for a new team owned by former BAR boss Craig Pollock.

31 Ryan Hunter-Reay

TEAM: American Spirit Team Johansson.

AGE: 22.

BIRTH PLACE: Dallas.

NOTABLE: Champ Car rookie lives in Boca Raton and worked his way up through the CART ladder system. He was a finalist last year in a program seeking to identify and groom potential American Formula One drivers.

32 Patrick Carpentier

TEAM: Player's/Forsythe Racing.

AGE: 31.

BIRTH PLACE: Ville Lasalle, Quebec.

NOTABLE: Finished third in 2002 standings, winning two races. Was Rookie of the Year in '97.

33 Alex Tagliani

TEAM: Rocketsports Racing.

AGE: 30.

BIRTH PLACE: Montreal.

NOTABLE: He finished eighth in last season's standings and in his fourth Champ Car season. He scored points in 10 consecutive races last season for Player's/Forsythe.

34 Mario Haberfeld

TEAM: Mi-Jack Conquest Racing.

AGE: 26.

BIRTH PLACE: Sao Paolo, Brazil.

NOTABLE: Champ Car rookie won British Formula 3 championship in 1998.

51 Adrian Fernandez

TEAM: Fernandez Racing.

AGE: 37.

BIRTH PLACE: Mexico City.

NOTABLE: Only owner/driver in the series. Was runnerup in 2000 standings. Finished 14th in the 2002 standings.

55 Mario Dominguez

TEAM: Herdez Competition.

AGE: 27.

BIRTH PLACE: Mexico City.

NOTABLE: Last season's Rookie of the Year won at Surfer's Paradise, Australia. Represented Mexico three times in World Karting Championships. Finished 18th in 2002 standings.