2007 Grand Prix of Houston
# 2007 Grand Prix of Houston

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.

## Qualifying results

| Pos | Name | Team | Qual 1 | Qual 2 | Best |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Will Power | Team Australia | 58.890 | 57.405 | 57.405 |
| 2 | Sébastien Bourdais | N/H/L Racing | 58.376 | 57.653 | 57.653 |
| 3 | Justin Wilson | RSPORTS | 59.216 | 57.533 | 57.533 |
| 4 | Neel Jani | PKV Racing | 59.354 | 57.753 | 57.753 |
| 5 | Oriol Servia | Forsythe Racing | 59.338 | 57.790 | 57.790 |
| 6 | Graham Rahal | N/H/L Racing | 58.998 | 57.896 | 57.896 |
| 7 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Australia | 59.446 | 57.929 | 57.929 |
| 8 | Tristan Gommendy | PKV Racing | 1:00.348 | 58.026 | 58.026 |
| 9 | Mario Dominguez | Forsythe Racing | 59.788 | 58.079 | 58.079 |
| 10 | Bruno Junqueira | Dale Coyne Racing | 59.575 | 58.169 | 58.169 |
| 11 | Alex Tagliani | RSPORTS | 59.269 | 58.261 | 58.261 |
| 12 | Dan Clarke | Minardi Team USA | 1:00.365 | 58.355 | 58.355 |
| 13 | Robert Doornbos | Minardi Team USA | 59.940 | 58.569 | 58.569 |
| 14 | Matt Halliday | Conquest Racing | 59.747 | 58.577 | 58.577 |
| 15 | Ryan Dalziel | Pacific Coast Motorsports | 59.746 | 58.835 | 58.835 |
| 16 | Roberto Moreno | Pacific Coast Motorsports | - | 59.231 | 59.231 |
| 17 | Katherine Legge | Dale Coyne Racing | 1:00.603 | 59.257 | 59.257 |

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

| Row | Inside | Inside | Outside | Outside |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 | Will Power | 1 | Sébastien Bourdais |
| 2 | 9 | Justin Wilson | 21 | Neel Jani |
| 3 | 3 | Oriol Servia | 2 | Graham Rahal |
| 4 | 15 | Simon Pagenaud | 22 | Tristan Gommendy |
| 5 | 7 | Mario Dominguez | 19 | Bruno Junqueira |
| 6 | 8 | Alex Tagliani | 4 | Dan Clarke |
| 7 | 14 | Robert Doornbos | 42 | Matt Halliday |
| 8 | 28 | Ryan Dalziel | 29 | Roberto Moreno |
| 9 | 11 | Katherine Legge | | |

## Race

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

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Sébastien Bourdais | N/H/L Racing | 93 | 1:45:32.136 | 2 | 33 |
| 2 | 2 | Graham Rahal | N/H/L Racing | 93 | +4.8 secs | 6 | 27 |
| 3 | 14 | Robert Doornbos | Minardi Team USA | 93 | +7.1 secs | 13 | 26 |
| 4 | 3 | Oriol Servia | Forsythe Racing | 93 | +8.7 secs | 5 | 23 |
| 5 | 15 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Australia | 93 | +9.5 secs | 7 | 21 |
| 6 | 7 | Mario Dominguez | Forsythe Racing | 93 | +19.1 secs | 9 | 19 |
| 7 | 19 | Bruno Junqueira | Dale Coyne Racing | 93 | +19.1 secs | 10 | 17 |
| 8 | 28 | Ryan Dalziel | Pacific Coast Motorsports | 93 | +20.3 secs | 15 | 15 |
| 9 | 8 | Alex Tagliani | RSPORTS | 93 | +25.1 secs | 11 | 13 |
| 10 | 9 | Justin Wilson | RSPORTS | 93 | +28.5 secs | 3 | 11 |
| 11 | 5 | Will Power | Team Australia | 92 | + 1 Lap | 1 | 11 |
| 12 | 29 | Roberto Moreno | Pacific Coast Motorsports | 90 | + 3 Laps | 16 | 9 |
| 13 | 22 | Tristan Gommendy | PKV Racing | 86 | Mechanical | 8 | 8 |
| 14 | 42 | Matt Halliday | Conquest Racing | 77 | + 16 Laps | 14 | 7 |
| 15 | 21 | Neel Jani | PKV Racing | 67 | Contact | 4 | 6 |
| 16 | 11 | Katherine Legge | Dale Coyne Racing | 67 | Contact | 17 | 5 |
| 17 | 4 | Dan Clarke | Minardi Team USA | 67 | Contact | 12 | 4 |

## Caution flags

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