VANCOUVER -- A trio of Toyota Atlantic drivers is going to school this week at the Vancouver Molson Indy.

Jonathan Macris, Aaron Justus and Michael Valiante are participating in the second year of the CART Mentor Program, which pairs drivers from the stepladder Toyota Atlantic Championship with Champ Car teams.

The drivers take part in every aspect of the race weekend with the teams, including debriefings, engineering sessions and team meetings, as well as press and sponsor events.

They will also listen in on team communications from the pit lane during all practice and qualifying sessions -- and Sunday's race.

Last year, series champion John Fogarty was placed with Newman/Haas Racing for the Vancouver event. Later in the year, he got a test with the Champ Car team.

"The mentor program is a great idea because, now more than ever, it is extremely important for drivers in our series to introduce themselves to Champ Car teams,'' said Vickie O'Connor, president of the Toyota Atlantic series. "It should be a great benefit to them as they plan for their future. I'm pleased that we are able to give the drivers these types of opportunities, and I encourage all of them to ask as many questions and learn as much as they can this weekend.''

Macris is paired with Rocketsports Racing, fielding cars for Alex Tagliani in its first season in the Champ Car series.

Justus is with Player's/Forsythe Racing, which has series points leader Paul Tracy and Patrick Carpentier as its drivers.

Valiente, winner of the season-opening race in Mexico, is with Walker Racing, which is fielding entries for Darren Manning and Rodolfo Levine. It was also announced Friday that team owner Derrick Walker and Valiente have launched a sponsor search with the objective of adding a third car in 2004.

Macris is third in the Toyota Atlantic points standings, Justus is fifth and Valiente, despite missing a race because of illness, is sixth.

Current points leader A.J. Allmendinger and runner-up Ryan Dalziel were unable to participate in this week's program due to illness.

The mentor program will continue next month in Denver with drivers from CART's Barber Dodge Pro Series paired with selected Toyota Atlantic teams. Last year, Allmendinger was the first Barber Dodge driver to participate in the mentor program.

Passing Fancy
Roberto Moreno, who won the 2001 Vancouver race, isn't among the drivers who complain about how hard it is to pass on the twisting, 1.78-mile street circuit near downtown.

"I used to think it was difficult to pass until I passed Gil de Ferran three times for the lead,'' Moreno said, grinning as he recalled the first of his two Champ Car wins.

"It's one of those things, when you have the right car, you're hooked onto it. When it's your day, nobody stops you,'' he said. "But it is difficult to pass (here).

"It's very bumpy. It's a very challenging circuit.''

Moreno is 12th in the current season's points standings after a slow start with the Herdez Competition team.

"It's taken us half a season to come to the top level,'' he said.

Miscellaneous
Series leader Paul Tracy has led 448 of a possible 1,213 laps in the first 10 races this season. Third-place Michel Jourdain is next with 324 laps led. ... Another victory by Tracy, who has four so far this season, would tie him for fourth on CART's all-time list with 24. ... Retired driving champion and current team co-owner Emerson Fittipaldi holds the series record with at least one win in 11 consecutive seasons. The current leader in that category is Patrick Carpentier, whose victory earlier this year in Monterey, Calif., made it three years in a row. ... The Vancouver circuit winds around and through GM Place in the waterfront community of False Creek, using parts of four city streets and the parking lot of the Science World attraction.