2006 Grand Prix of Houston

2006 Grand Prix of Houston
Race details
Race 2 of 14 in the 2006 Champ Car season
	Reliant Park track layout
Date	May 13, 2006
Official name	Grand Prix of Houston
Location	Reliant Park Street Course; Houston, Texas, United States
Course	Temporary street circuit; 1.690 mi / 2.720 km
Distance	96 laps; 162.240 mi / 261.099 km
Weather	Partly cloudy with temperatures hovering around 72.3 °F (22.4 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Mario Domínguez (Forsythe Championship Racing)
Time	58.026
Fastest lap
Driver	Sébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing)
Time	1:00.176 (on lap 25 of 96)
Podium
First	Sébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing)
Second	Paul Tracy (Forsythe Championship Racing)
Third	Mario Domínguez (Forsythe Championship Racing)

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.^[2]

On Friday, a temporary chicane was added between the first two turns and the race was shortened from 115 to 100 laps.^[2] Mario Domínguez won the pole, his first and only of his career.^[3] Sébastien Bourdais started fifth but took the lead late in the race and held off Paul Tracy to win his second consecutive race of the season, the first defending champion to do so since Rick Mears in 1982.^[2]^[4] Tracy was frustrated with Champ Car officials after only warning Bourdais of blocking claiming that "when you're Sebastien Bourdais you can do what you want." Following the race, Alex Tagliani was taken to a local hospital after experiencing back pain from the bumpy circuit.^[4]

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Name	Team	Qual 1	Qual 2	Best
1	7	Mario Domínguez	Forsythe Racing	1:00.134	58.026	58.026
2	2	Bruno Junqueira	Newman/Haas Racing	59.617	58.918	58.918
3	3	Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	1:00.032	58.426	58.426
4	10	A. J. Allmendinger	RuSPORT	1:00.047	58.572	58.572
5	1	Sébastien Bourdais	Newman/Haas Racing	—^*	58.627	58.627
6	15	Alex Tagliani	Team Australia	1:00.047	58.765	58.765
7	9	Justin Wilson	RuSPORT	1:00.149	58.829	58.829
8	6	Oriol Servià	PKV Racing	1:00.268	59.062	59.062
9	4	Nelson Philippe	CTE Racing-HVM	1:01.260	59.232	59.232
10	5	Will Power	Team Australia	1:00.690	59.302	59.302
11	34	Charles Zwolsman Jr.	Mi-Jack Conquest Racing	1:01.903	59.385	59.385
12	14	Dan Clarke	CTE Racing-HVM	—	59.550	59.550
13	27	Andrew Ranger	Mi-Jack Conquest Racing	1:03.165	59.740	59.740
14	19	Cristiano da Matta	Dale Coyne Racing	1:01.612	1:00.195	1:00.195
15	20	Katherine Legge	PKV Racing	1:01.831	1:00.265	1:00.265
16	8	Nicky Pastorelli	Rocketsports Racing	1:04.091	1:00.269	1:00.269
17	11	Jan Heylen	Dale Coyne Racing	—	1:00.839	1:00.839
References:^[5]^[6]

^* The first round qualifying time for Sébastien Bourdais was disallowed after his car failed technical inspection.^[5]

Race

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
References:^[7]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Sébastien Bourdais	68
2	2	Mario Domínguez	50
1	3	Justin Wilson	48
2	4	Andrew Ranger	40
2	5	Alex Tagliani	35

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

↑ "Weather information for the 2006 Grand Prix of Houston". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
1 2 3 Hohlfeld, Neil (May 14, 2006). "Bourdais outduels Tracy: Champ Car leader maintains edge as caution flags mar final laps of Reliant race". The Houston Chronicle. p. C1. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
↑ "Bourdais continues Champ Car dominance". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. May 15, 2006. p. 3C. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
1 2 Buker, Paul (May 14, 2006). "The course is bumpy but Bourdais stays cool in win". The Sunday Oregonian. p. B5. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
1 2 "CHAMPCAR/CART: Houston: Thursday qualifying times". Motorsport. May 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
↑ "CHAMPCAR/CART: Houston: Friday qualifying times". Motorsport. May 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2026.
↑ "2006 Grand Prix of Houston". ChampCarStats. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[1] "Weather information for the 2006 Grand Prix of Houston". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved October 11, 2013.

[outduels-2] 1 2 3 Hohlfeld, Neil (May 14, 2006). "Bourdais outduels Tracy: Champ Car leader maintains edge as caution flags mar final laps of Reliant race". The Houston Chronicle. p. C1. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[3] "Bourdais continues Champ Car dominance". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Associated Press. May 15, 2006. p. 3C. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[bumpy-4] 1 2 Buker, Paul (May 14, 2006). "The course is bumpy but Bourdais stays cool in win". The Sunday Oregonian. p. B5. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[quali-5] 1 2 "CHAMPCAR/CART: Houston: Thursday qualifying times". Motorsport. May 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[6] "CHAMPCAR/CART: Houston: Friday qualifying times". Motorsport. May 12, 2006. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

[7] "2006 Grand Prix of Houston". ChampCarStats. Retrieved March 31, 2026.

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