2007 Grand Prix of Houston

Last updated
Flag of the United States.svg 2007 Grand Prix of Houston
Race details
Race 3 of 14 in the 2007 Champ Car season
Route for the Grand Prix of Houston.svg
DateApril 22, 2007
Official name Grand Prix of Houston
Location JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park
Houston, Texas, United States
CourseTemporary street circuit
1.683 [1] mi / 2.709 km
Distance93 laps
156.519 mi / 251.893 km
WeatherCloudy with temperatures reaching up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds approaching 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) [2]
Pole position
Driver Will Power  (Team Australia)
Time57.405
Fastest lap
Driver Sébastien Bourdais  (N/H/L Racing)
Time58.018 (on lap 93 of 93)
Podium
First Sébastien Bourdais  (N/H/L Racing)
Second Graham Rahal  (N/H/L Racing)
Third Robert Doornbos  (Minardi Team USA)

The 2007 Grand Prix of Houston was the third round of the 2007 Champ Car World Series Season, held on April 22 at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park.

Contents

Qualifying results

PosNatNameTeamQual 1Qual 2Best
1 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power Team Australia 58.89057.40557.405
2 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 58.37657.65357.653
3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson RSPORTS 59.21657.53357.533
4 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani PKV Racing 59.35457.75357.753
5 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 59.33857.79057.790
6 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 58.99857.89657.896
7 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 59.44657.92957.929
8 Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 1:00.34858.02658.026
9 Flag of Mexico.svg Mario Dominguez Forsythe Racing 59.78858.07958.079
10 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 59.57558.16958.169
11 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 59.26958.26158.261
12 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 1:00.36558.35558.355
13 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 59.94058.56958.569
14 Flag of New Zealand.svg Matt Halliday Conquest Racing 59.74758.57758.577
15 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 59.74658.83558.835
16 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno Pacific Coast Motorsports -59.23159.231
17 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:00.60359.25759.257

Sébastien Bourdais originally took pole but was penalised for blocking Will Power. Roberto Moreno substituted for Alex Figge beginning on Saturday after Figge was unable to race the bumpy parking lot circuit with lingering back pain resulting from a crash at Long Beach the previous week.

Grid

RowInsideOutside
15 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power 1 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais
29 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson 21 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani
33 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servia 2 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal
415 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud 22 Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy
57 Flag of Mexico.svg Mario Dominguez 19 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira
68 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani 4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dan Clarke
714 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos 42 Flag of New Zealand.svg Matt Halliday
828 Flag of Scotland.svg Ryan Dalziel 29 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno
911 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Katherine Legge
Cars stream into turn 1 on lap 1 2007GPofHouston1.jpg
Cars stream into turn 1 on lap 1

Race

The race was won by Sebastien Bourdais, which moved him into the lead of the championship. Sebastien Bourdais 2007.jpg
The race was won by Sébastien Bourdais, which moved him into the lead of the championship.

Pole sitter Will Power was passed by Sébastien Bourdais and Justin Wilson at the drop of the green flag. Bourdais short cut a chicane and was forced to drop back into 2nd behind Wilson. On lap 14 Bourdais regained the lead and built a long lead over Wilson. The first round of pit stops were done under a yellow caused by debris. Oriol Servia, substituting again for the injured Paul Tracy, left the pits in 2nd, while Bourdais' teammate Graham Rahal got out in 3rd. The top three remained static until lap 66 when Oriol Servia's green flag pit stop was balked by his teammate Mario Dominguez, dropping him all the way to 7th. When Bourdais pitted on lap 68, Tristan Gommendy took the lead by staying out, gambling on a long-shot fuel strategy win. When Gommendy's race ended at the entrance of pit lane with minutes remaining in the 1 hour, 45 minute timed race (all Champ Car races in the season were held as timed races that ran 1 hour, 45 minutes), Bourdais retook the lead and led the remainder of the race in front of teammate Rahal, who did not provide an undue amount of pressure. Robert Doornbos solidified his lead in the rookie standings with a 3rd-place finish, while Oriol Servia fought back from the pit stop mishap to a solid 4th-place finish.

Results

PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
11 Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 931:45:32.136233
22 Flag of the United States.svg Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 93+4.8 secs627
314 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 93+7.1 secs1326
43 Flag of Spain.svg Oriol Servia Forsythe Racing 93+8.7 secs523
515 Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 93+9.5 secs721
67 Flag of Mexico.svg Mario Dominguez Forsythe Racing 93+19.1 secs919
719 Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 93+19.1 secs1017
828 Flag of Scotland.svg Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 93+20.3 secs1515
98 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 93+25.1 secs1113
109 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Justin Wilson RSPORTS 93+28.5 secs311
115 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Will Power Team Australia 92+ 1 Lap111
1229 Flag of Brazil.svg Roberto Moreno Pacific Coast Motorsports 90+ 3 Laps169
1322 Flag of France.svg Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 86Mechanical88
1442 Flag of New Zealand.svg Matt Halliday Conquest Racing 77+ 16 Laps147
1521 Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Neel Jani PKV Racing 67Contact46
1611 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 67Contact175
174 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dan Clarke Minardi Team USA 67Contact124

Caution flags

LapsCause
1Yellow flag start
28-32Debris
47-51 Moreno spin/stall
69-74 Jani/Legge/Clarke crash & Power/Dominguez crash

Notes

LapsLeader
1 Will Power
2-13 Justin Wilson
14-29 Sébastien Bourdais
30 Tristan Gommendy
31-68 Sébastien Bourdais
69-86 Tristan Gommendy
86-93 Sébastien Bourdais
 
DriverLaps led
Sébastien Bourdais 62
Tristan Gommendy 18
Justin Wilson 12
Will Power 1

Championship standings after the race