2006 Imola Sprint Race

The 2006 Imola GP2 Series Race 2, otherwise known as the 2006 Imola Sprint Race, was the fourth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on 23 April 2006. The race would see Ernesto Viso sweep to his maiden GP2 victory and fifth podium, after a start line collision caused chaos.

BCN Competición duo Hiroki Yoshimoto and Timo Glock would share the front row after finishing seventh and eighth in the Feature Race, while Feature winner Gianmaria Bruni started from eighth. They duly converted that into a one-two at the start of the race, as behind a fast starting Nicolas Lapierre would vault past Alexandre Prémat, Viso and Nelson Piquet Jr..

However, amid the tyre smoke there would be a heavy accident, as Lucas di Grassi slammed into the back of a stalled Adrián Vallés, destroying both cars. This triggered a Safety Car, with the field having to drive down the pitlane as the start/finish straight was cleared.

After four laps the race resumed, with Yoshimoto making an early break, while Viso darted past Glock for second, having passed Lapierre moments before the SC was thrown. The Venezuelan racer duly caught onto the tail of Yoshimoto over the following laps, with Glock instead finding himself having resist the attentions of Piquet after the Brazilian found a way past Lapierre.

Glock soon fell to Piquet too, with the Brazilian racer quickly reeling in Yoshimoto and Viso as the Venezuelan racer sought to find a way past. On lap eight Viso finally elbowed his way past, while Yoshimoto would resist Piquet for a further two laps before being relegated to third.

With that the race for the podium was effectively over, with Viso and Piquet exchanging fastest laps, before Piquet made a mistake late on and lost a handful of time. Yoshimoto, meanwhile, would run in a comfortable third, with teammate Glock forming a rolling roadblock that would consist of the rest of the top ten.

Indeed the Glock train would provide much of the action for the day, with fighting throughout the group erupting as no-one could find a way past the #19 BCN. The only other action would be provided by Lewis Hamilton, who stormed up from the back of the field with a series of excellent moves, until he too got caught in the Glock train.

Out front, meanwhile, there would be no denying Viso from claiming victory, although Piquet was able to draw onto his tail in the closing stages as the Venezuelan nursed his car. Yoshimoto was a lonely third ahead of Glock, with Luca Filippi and Félix Porteiro completing the scorers as the furthest drivers up in the train.

Background
The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy, was unchanged ahead of the Sprint Race on Sunday morning, with the GP2 race staged before the XXVI Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino. There would likewise be no changes to the entry list, although Lewis Hamilton had been thrown to the back of the grid after being disqualified from the Feature Race.

Bruni Bounty
Fifth in the Imola Feature was enough for Nelson Piquet Jr. to retain the lead in the Championship, although his early advantage had been cut to just two points. Indeed, victory for Gianmaria Bruni had catapulted the Italian racer up to second on eighteen points, while Michael Ammermüller had similarly risen to third, a further two behind. Nicolas Lapierre, meanwhile had slipped to fourth despite adding to his tally, while Hamilton had ended the day in fifth, eleven off the lead.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a good afternoon for Arden International, as they managed to extended their initial lead to twelve points. Piquet Sports had held second on twenty points, while Trident Racing had leapt into third after their maiden triumph. ART Grand Prix/GP2 Series had made way for them and slipped to fourth ahead of iSport International, while BCN Competición were on the board in eighth.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Grid
The grid for the Sprint Race was formed from the finishing positions from the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA GP2 Series rules:

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Ernesto Viso.
 * Viso also secured his fifth podium finish.
 * iSport International claimed their maiden victory.
 * Second and final podium finish for Hiroki Yoshimoto.
 * Maiden points finishes for Luca Filippi and Félix Porteiro.

Standings
Nelson Piquet Jr. rounded out the second weekend of the season with a small but secure margin in the Championship, having moved onto 25 points for the campaign as one of only two drivers to have scored in every race. He hence held a seven point lead over Gianmaria Bruni in second, while Ernesto Viso, the only other driver with a 100% scoring record, had moved into third on sixteen. The Venezuelan racer was, however, level on points with both Michael Ammermüller and Nicolas Lapierre, with thirteen drivers on the scoresheet.

Arden International had held their lead in the Teams' Championship as the Imola weekend came to a close, although their advantage had been reduced to seven points. Piquet Sports were their closest challengers courtesy of Piquet Jr.'s efforts, while Trident Racing were up to third, two ahead of iSport International. Elsewhere, BCN Competición had moved up the order after another double-score, while FMS International were on the board in ninth.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.