2007 Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix

March 2026 February 2025 Belgium Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix Zolder.svg Zolder Track Layout August 26 2007 Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix 11 14 Champ Car Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder, Belgium Permanent Road Course 2.492 4.010 71 176.932 284.744 Cloudy Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 1:12.821 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 1:14.089 39 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing France Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing Brazil Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing USA The 2007 Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2007 season of the Champ Car World Series. It was held on August 26, 2007, at Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. The race was won by Sébastien Bourdais, and it was his sixth victory of the season. Background The race was part of a short tour through Europe, with the race at TT Circuit Assen in The Netherlands one week later. It was the series' first and last ever race in Belgium. On January 16, 2007, the Champ Car World Series announced a multi-year agreement that would see the return of Champ Car to Europe for the first time since 2003 with inaugural races in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was the first time that Champ Car has raced in either of the two European nations. "We are excited to bring the American equivalent of Formula 1 racing to Europe," said event promoter Bart Rietbergen. "Champ Car provides close racing that is easy for European fans to understand, and they will be very impressed with the access that they will have in the Champ Car paddock."December 2010 Conquest Racing driver Jan Heylen found himself in a home race on the circuit that lies just 30 km mi on from Geel, the place where he was born. Next to Heylen, Robert Doornbos also had many fans as the track lies close to his native country, the Netherlands. Qualifying results Pos Nat Name Team Qual 1 Qual 2 Best 1 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 1:14.023 1:12.821 1:12.821 2 AUS Will Power Team Australia 1:13.810 1:13.194 1:13.194 3 NED Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA no time 1:13.067 1:13.067 4 Brazil Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 1:14.433 1:13.313 1:13.313 5 UK Justin Wilson RSPORTS 1:15.041 1:13.327 1:13.327 6 Canada Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 1:14.960 1:13.384 1:13.384 7 Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 1:14.829 1:13.407 1:13.407 8 France Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 1:14.030 1:13.436 1:13.436 9 Switzerland Neel Jani PKV Racing 1:14.823 1:13.555 1:13.436 10 Spain Oriol Servià Forsythe Racing 1:14.812 1:13.720 1:13.720 11 Belgium Jan Heylen Conquest Racing no time 1:13.768 1:13.768 12 Mexico Mario Domínguez Minardi Team USA - 1:13.810 1:13.810 13 US Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 1:14.224 1:13.822 1:13.822 14 UK Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 1:15.603 1:13.987 1:13.987 15 France Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 1:14.590 1:13.995 1:13.995 16 UK Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:15.498 1:14.002 1:14.002 17 US Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 1:15.934 1:14.744 1:14.744 Team Minardi USA driver Dan Clarke was suspended by Champ Car race director Tony Cotman for reckless driving and avoidable contact at the start of Friday's first free practice session, and thus did not participate for the remainder of the weekend. Clarke had been placed on probation after an incident with Justin Wilson at the San Jose Grand Prix. Caught up in the incident were Wilson and Belgian driver Jan Heylen. Severe damage to Heylen's car prevented him from taking part in Friday's qualifying session. Mario Domínguez replaced Clarke starting on Saturday, stepping into his fourth team for the year. Clarke's suspension would be reevaluated before the next week's Grand Prix of the Netherlands. Clarke's Team Minardi teammate Robert Doornbos was also unable to take part in Friday's session after blowing an engine at the end of the practice session immediately prior to qualifying. Sébastien Bourdais was quickest on Saturday to win his fourth pole position of the season. It was also the fourth time Bourdais and Friday's fastest driver, Will Power, shared the front row. Doornbos recovered from his engine troubles on Friday to finish second fastest in the session, but started on the second row. Next to him was Dale Coyne Racing's Bruno Junqueira, who gave the long-struggling team its highest grid position since the 1999 Grand Prix of Long Beach. Race Pos Nat Name Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 France Sébastien Bourdais N/H/L Racing 71 1:45:21.997 1 33 2 Brazil Bruno Junqueira Dale Coyne Racing 71 +13.7 secs 4 27 3 US Graham Rahal N/H/L Racing 71 +14.5 secs 13 26 4 AUS Will Power Team Australia 71 +15.1 secs 2 24 5 UK Justin Wilson RSPORTS 71 +16.0 secs 5 21 6 Spain Oriol Servià Forsythe Racing 71 +17.2 secs 10 19 7 NED Robert Doornbos Minardi Team USA 71 +18.4 secs 3 17 8 Switzerland Neel Jani PKV Racing 71 +19.1 secs 9 15 9 Canada Alex Tagliani RSPORTS 71 +23.8 secs 6 13 10 Canada Paul Tracy Forsythe Racing 71 +24.5 secs 7 11 11 UK Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing 71 +28.8 secs 14 10 12 France Simon Pagenaud Team Australia 71 +33.2 secs 8 9 13 Belgium Jan Heylen Conquest Racing 71 +1:12.1 11 8 14 US Alex Figge Pacific Coast Motorsports 70 + 1 Lap 17 7 15 UK Ryan Dalziel Pacific Coast Motorsports 67 + 4 Laps 16 6 16 France Tristan Gommendy PKV Racing 60 Mechanical 15 5 17 Mexico Mario Domínguez Minardi Team USA 47 Tyre 12 4 section December 2010 In the last thirty laps, Bourdais led away from the starting grid and held the lead until his second pit stop lap 40. On that lap, Bourdais lost the lead to a pack of alternate strategy cars who had pitted for the second time during a caution period on lap 27. Included in this pack were his teammate Graham Rahal who took the lead until he ducked into the pits on lap 47, relinquishing the lead to Bourdais. On lap 50, a caution came out. Most drivers pitted a final pitstop but four drivers stayed out: Bruno Junqueira, Simon Pagenaud, local driver Jan Heylen, and Tristan Gommendy. Of the four drivers, Junqueira's gambit was the most dangerous to Bourdais, as he had stopped on lap 49. In order for the other drivers to catch up, they had to perform a number of full course caution laps. When the green flag came out again, the order was Pagenaud, Heylen, Gommendy, Junqueira, and Bourdais. After two hard fought laps, Junqueira gave up fourth place to Bourdais. Five laps later Gommendy gave up third spot shortly before pitting and then retiring with an oil leak. Heylen gave up his gambit on lap 59 and while Pagenaud gamely hung on to the lead until lap 63, it was unlikely that he would make the end of the race. With that stop, Bourdais re-inherited the lead, while behind him Junqueira clung to second place while saving fuel at the same time. Rahal did not have fuel concerns but was not able to find his way around the veteran driver. The positioning stayed the same by the end, with Bourdais in front by more than 13 seconds. Junqueira's 2nd place was Dale Coyne Racing team's best ever finish. Rahal settled for the fourth podium finish of his rookie season. Bourdais leads the season championship by 53 points over Robert Doornbos. Not an insurmountable lead, but one that leaves his challengers with an insignificant chance of preventing the capture of his fourth straight Champ Car title. Caution flags Laps Cause16-19 Track damage repair26-28 Figge (29) off course49-52 Domínguez (4) lost wheel Notes Laps Leader1-40 Sébastien Bourdais41-47 Graham Rahal48-50 Sébastien Bourdais51-63 Simon Pagenaud64-71 Sébastien Bourdais Driver Laps ledSébastien Bourdais 51Simon Pagenaud 13Graham Rahal 7 New Race Record Sébastien Bourdais : 1:45:21.997 Average Speed 100.752 mph / 162.144 kmh Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix http://www.champcarstats.com/races/200711.htm Champ Car Stats 9 December 2010 Championship standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 FRA Sébastien Bourdais 283 10px 2 Netherlands Robert Doornbos 230 10px 3 AUS Will Power 221 10px 4 UK Justin Wilson 211 10px 5 US Graham Rahal 196 Note: Only the top five positions are included. Attendance Attendance for the weekend at Zolder was 40,000 spectators, with 25,000 attending on race day. This was in line with the organizers expectations, and was the attendance necessary to break even financially.Le ChampCar à Zolder: "Un bilan satisfaisant..." https://www.dhnet.be/sports/moteurs/article/182089/le-champcar-a-zolder-un-bilan-satisfaisant.html La Dernière Heure 9 December 2010 French 27 August 2007Belgian Grand Prix promoter blames high ticket prices for empty seats http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing/story/10322531/rss CBSSports.com 9 December 2010 29 August 2007 References External links Full Weekend Times & Results Race Box Score Drivers Standings After Race 2007 Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix 2007 2007 Generac Grand Prix 2007 Bavaria Champ Car Grand Prix First Event 2008 Champ Car Grand Prix of Belgiumcancelled by IndyCar/Champ Car merger Belgian Champ Car Grand Prix, 2007 Category:Auto races in Belgium Champ Car Grand Prix Category:Circuit Zolder Category:Sports competitions in Limburg (Belgium)