# 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.

## Qualifying results

| Pos | 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

| 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

| 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 |