2006 Grand Prix of Houston

The 2006 Grand Prix of Houston was the second round of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, held on May 13, 2006, on the streets around Reliant Park in Houston, Texas. It was the first event in Houston since a race on a downtown circuit in 2001. Mario Domínguez won the pole, his first and only of his career, but Sébastien Bourdais came from fifth on the grid to win his second consecutive race of the season.

United States 2006 Houston
Race details
Race 2 of 14 in the 2006 Champ Car season
Reliant Park Track Layout
DateMay 13, 2006
Official nameGrand Prix of Houston
LocationReliant Park Street Course
Houston, Texas, United States
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.690 mi / 2.720 km
Distance96 laps
162.240 mi / 261.099 km
WeatherPartly cloudy with temperatures hovering around 72.3 °F (22.4 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Pole position
DriverMario Domínguez (Forsythe Championship Racing)
Time58.026
Fastest lap
DriverSébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing)
Time1:00.176 (on lap 25 of 96)
Podium
FirstSébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing)
SecondPaul Tracy (Forsythe Championship Racing)
ThirdMario Domínguez (Forsythe Championship Racing)

Qualifying results edit

Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best
1   Mario Domínguez Forsythe Racing 1:00.134 58.026 58.026
2   Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing 59.617 58.918 58.918
3   Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 1:00.032 58.426 58.426
4   A. J. Allmendinger RuSPORT 1:00.047 58.572 58.572
5   Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing * 58.627 58.627
6   Alex Tagliani Team Australia 1:00.047 58.765 58.765
7   Justin Wilson RuSPORT 1:00.149 58.829 58.829
8   Oriol Servià PKV Racing 1:00.268 59.062 59.062
9   Nelson Philippe CTE Racing-HVM 1:01.260 59.232 59.232
10   Will Power Team Australia 1:00.690 59.302 59.302
11   Charles Zwolsman Jr. Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1:01.903 59.385 59.385
12   Dan Clarke CTE Racing-HVM 59.550 59.550
13   Andrew Ranger Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 1:03.165 59.740 59.740
14   Cristiano da Matta Dale Coyne Racing 1:01.612 1:00.195 1:00.195
15   Katherine Legge PKV Racing 1:01.831 1:00.265 1:00.265
16   Nicky Pastorelli Rocketsports Racing 1:04.091 1:00.269 1:00.269
17   Jan Heylen Dale Coyne Racing 1:00.839 1:00.839

* The first round qualifying time for Sébastien Bourdais was disallowed after his car failed technical inspection.

Race edit

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1   Sébastien Bourdais Newman/Haas Racing 96 1:59:57.021 5 33
2 3   Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 96 +1.238 secs 3 27
3 7   Mario Domínguez Forsythe Racing 96 +2.287 secs 1 27
4 4   Nelson Philippe CTE Racing-HVM 96 +3.667 secs 9 23
5 9   Justin Wilson RuSPORT 96 +4.040 secs 2 21
6 27   Andrew Ranger Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 96 +5.351 secs 13 20
7 5   Will Power Team Australia 96 +5.986 secs 10 17
8 10   A. J. Allmendinger RuSPORT 96 +7.689 secs 4 15
9 19   Cristiano da Matta Dale Coyne Racing 95 + 1 Lap 14 13
10 2   Bruno Junqueira Newman/Haas Racing 93 + 3 Laps 2 12
11 15   Alex Tagliani Team Australia 90 Contact 6 10
12 6   Oriol Servià PKV Racing 87 Contact 8 9
13 11   Jan Heylen Dale Coyne Racing 82 + 14 Laps 17 8
14 20   Katherine Legge PKV Racing 81 + 15 Laps 15 7
15 34   Charles Zwolsman Jr. Mi-Jack Conquest Racing 69 Contact 11 6
16 14   Dan Clarke CTE Racing-HVM 33 Suspension 12 5
17 8   Nicky Pastorelli Rocketsports Racing 29 Brakes 16 4

Caution flags edit

Laps Cause
27-32 Track problems
32-33 Yellow restart
34-36 Pastorelli (8) & Heylen (11) crash
43-46 Legge (20) crash
71-76 Power (5) & Zwolsman (34) crash
88-95 Servià (6) crash; Tagliani (15) crash

Notes edit

Laps Leader
1-26 Mario Domínguez
27-29 Sébastien Bourdais
30-66 Mario Domínguez
67-96 Sébastien Bourdais
 
Driver Laps led
Mario Domínguez 63
Sébastien Bourdais 33

Championship standings after the race edit