2006 CCWS Rd. 2--Lone Star Grand Prix of Houston

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The past four times that the Champ Car World Series has visited a new venue since 2003, 2-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais(#1 McDonald's FC/L) has won the first race there.......Brands Hatch, 2003; Las Vegas, 2004; Edmonton and San jose, 2005. Add Houston's 2006 return to that list as fortune smiled on the LeMans native in the Lone Star Grand Prix of Houston.

When the race began, it was the Forsythe car of polesitter Mario Dominguez(#7 Pride of Mexico/Indeck FC/L) who led the field to the turn 1/1b chicane, a place that saw many drivers shortcut as the bumpy concrete played havoc w/brakes all race long. Early on, though, the Mexican held off his challengers, while Bourdais began climbing up the scoreboard, making passes on both A.J. Allmendinger(#10 Western Union FC/L) and, a few laps earlier, around teammate Bruno Junquiera(#2 Hole in the Wall Camps FC/L). Meanwhile, rookies Jan Heylen(#11 Sonny's Real-Pit BBQ FC/L) and Nicky Pastorelli(#8 Muermans FC/L) both suffered early problems w/brakes, an issue that would affect drivers due to the bumpy track surface. Dominguez, though, continued unabated, until lap 26 when Bourdais snuck underneath Dominguez in turn 6.....just before the caution came out for debris.

When the pits opened two laps later, however, Dominguez got an excellent pitstop and passed SeaBass to retake the lead before the first restart. Top-5 after 30 laps: Dominguez, Bourdais, Tracy, Allmendinger and Tagliani. Then, after a brief caution several laps later, things got very interesting for three of the rookies in the field. For several laps, Will Power(#5 Aussie Vineyards FC/L), Katherine Legge(#20 Bell Micro/Optium FC/L) and "Speedy" Dan Clarke(#14 A Bird & A Bear Ent. FC/L) had been fighting for P9-P11 when Power attempted to "block" Clarke for 9th.....who in turn moved into Legge's path.....causing Legge to spin and smack the tire walls in turn 7, knocking the rear wing askew. Although she would spend a dozen or so laps in pitlane to repair the broken wing, Legge would return to the track, finishing in 14th.

Meanwhile, the frontrunning continued on, w/the top-5 at halfway: Dominguez, Bourdais, Tracy, Tagliani and Allmendinger. Then, after leading for the 60 or so laps, Dominguez makes a rare mistake, running into the run-off area at turn 5, essentially handing over the lead to Bourdais......with PT still on his heels behind him. Then another caution comes out following the second stint of pitstops, as Power gets into another situation, this time w/fellow rookie Charles Zwolsman(#34 GoldenPalace.com FC/L) entering turn 1; the Flying Dutchman was okay but gave Power a piece of his mind when Power passed by the next lap. Unlike the first time, though, race control (rightly, IMHO) assessed Power a stop-and-go penalty for "avoidable contact".

With 16 laps to go, the green flag came out once again, and Tracy(#3 Indeck/Forsythe FC/L) would hound Bourdais for another period until the last caution of the race, caused by Team Australia's Alex Tagliani(#15 Aussie Vineyards FC/L) who lost the rear brakes entering turn 3 and nailed the tirewalls almost head-on; Tag was unhurt but was taken to the Reliant Park Care Center and then transferred to Houston's Herman Hospital for overnight observation after complaining of back pain. The reason for the wreck.....several laps before, Tag and PKV's Oriol Servia(#6 Gulfstream FC/L) got together in turn 1, putting Servia into the wall(damage to Tag's rear suspension caused a brake line to kink-up, which ruined the rear brakes' on the #15). In the end, though, it was Bourdais who prevailed, winning by less than a second over Tracy, with Dominguez taking the final podium spot in third.

Post-race observations to come Sunday........

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.....okay, so it's late Monday rather than Sunday.....oops.

Having had a couple of days to absorb all the good tidings from ChampCar's return to the Lone Star State, here are some thoughts, observations, and whatever else comes into my mind.


1}Okay, so the Reliant Park track was a bit bumpy, but it was one racy track and that made for some great racing up-and-down the grid; the best part of it was watching the 5-way scrum at one part of the race btwn. Allmendinger, Phillipe, Junqueira, Power and Tagliani. But the best observation came from one of Forsythe's Atlantics drivers, Leonardo Maia....

These Champ Car drivers who complained about the track being too bumpy are prima donnas. Just drive it man. You think AJ Foyt would give a hoot about the bumps? He probably wouldn't even notice them. People are whining about nothing. I wouldn't change a thing.

2}I came away from the race feeling very impressed towards rookie Charles Zwolsman's performance at Houston. Granted, he looked a little lost at the Beach, but he made up for it in Houston, showing an aggressive and quick touch to the car......until he got "mugged" into the turn 1 wall by Power. Of course, that was the second time Power "mugged" a fellow driver; earlier on, a bold move to pass "Speedy" Dan Clarke ended up sending Katherine Legge into the tirewalls. Personally, I think Power's making up for Tag putting him into the tirewalls last year in Surfers' Paradise.

3}Speaking of Tag.........last word from the track was that he was headed to Houston's Herman Hospital, complaining of mid-to-lower back pain. Well, I'm pleased to report that Tagliani's okay; he stayed overnight in the hospital and was released Sunday morning.....word is he will be able to race in Monterrey this weekend.

4}As for Oriol Servia.......son, what were you thinking trying to pass Tag late in the race, knocking yourself out of the race, and causing Tag to crash a few laps later?

5}While Nelson Phillipe might still be too young to legally buy alcoholic beverages in the lower 48, the kid seems to get better every race and his fourth-place finish, a career-best for the Frenchman, was another sign of his increased on-track maturity. Mark my word, a few years down the road, and Phillipe's going to challenge for the Vanderbilt Cup.

6}Finally, I'm not a fan of standing-starts, but wouldn't it be nice to invert the ChampCar grids on street circuits, especially if Bourdais and Tracy are at the back of the grid? Just a passing thought on the way to Monterrey.