2006 Magny-Cours Sprint Race

The 2006 Magny-Cours Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2006 Magny-Cours GP2 Series Race 2, was the thirteenth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France on 16 July 2006. The race, staged in support of the XCII Grand Prix de France, would see Giorgio Pantano claim his maiden victory, as well as the first for Coloni Motorsport since their partnership with FMS International.

Ferdinando Monfardini would start the race from pole position having finished eighth in the Feature Race, with Lucas di Grassi starting alongside. Pantano, meanwhile, would start from third ahead of Alexandre Negrão, while Championship leader Lewis Hamilton started in a lowly nineteenth after his woes in the Feature.

The start saw Pantano surge up to challenge both Monfardini and di Grassi for the lead, although it would be status quo between the trio as they thundered out of the first corner. Behind, Alexandre Prémat was spun off track after his lunge on Negrão for fourth resulted in the #1 ART darting across the nose of the #12 Piquet Sports entry, with Negrão's teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. instead sweeping past for the position.

Monfardini's hopes of victory faded before the end of the first lap, with di Grassi slithering into the lead exiting turn two, before the Italian spun himself to the back while attempting to get revenge. Tat allowed Pantano to move up into second, while behind Ernesto Viso and Hiroki Yoshimoto removed themselves from contention by colliding while watching Monfardini slide off track.

di Grassi's lead would last until the end of the opening tour, with Pantano duly scything past the Brazilian to claim the lead into Adelaide on the second lap. Elsewhere, Prémat had rejoined the fray just behind teammate Hamilton, who had already climbed up to twelfth during the eventful opening lap.

Indeed, the early-to-middle phase of the race would be about the progress of the two ARTs, with the Anglo-French duo working in tandem to climb into the points. Prémat, surprisingly, would be the more aggressive of the duo, passing Hamilton before the leading the Brit up the field to occupy fifth and sixth as the race his half-distance.

di Grassi was the next man to fall to the Prémat-Hamilton axis, the Brazilian's tyres fading badly in the second half of the race, before Prémat also elbowed his way past Timo Glock for third. Up front, meanwhile, Pantano's lead was steadily being chipped away at by Piquet, who had been delayed behind di Grassi before finally forcing his way ahead of his compatriot.

Ultimately, however, Piquet would run out of time to challenge the Italian racer for the lead, finishing half a second behind the Coloni-FMS combo as the chequered flag fluttered. Prémat was next up with third, visible scars on his battle hardened ART, while behind Glock had just enough in his tyres to deny Hamilton fourth. di Grassi then rounded out the points in sixth, having had just enough in his Bridgestone rubber to deny Neel Jani.

Background
The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours was unsurprisingly unchanged after the 2006 Magny-Cours Feature Race, with likewise no changes made to the entry list. As a result, Ferdinando Monfardini would start the race from pole position as expected, while Feature winner Timo Glock would start from eighth.

Hamilton Hiccough
Lewis Hamilton had added a single point to his tally with his fastest lap point, although that was not enough to prevent his lead shrinking slightly after the first battle of Magny-Cours. Indeed, fourth place for Nelson Piquet Jr. had moved the Brazilian back within twenty points of the Brit, with Alexandre Prémat having likewise chipped away at his teammate's lead in third. Ernesto Viso was next up ahead of Michael Ammermüller and Nicolas Lapierre, while there were several changes outside of the top six due to the slightly shuffled finishing order.

In the Teams' Championship ART Grand Prix had maintained their crushing advantage atop the Championship hunt, with the French squad heading into the Magny-Cours Sprint with 112 points to their credit. Piquet Sports had matched their haul from the Feature and climbed to second, and hence remained 53 points behind. iSport International had likewise moved up the order into third, leaving Arden International in fourth, while Trident Racing retained their top five status in fifth.

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 Giorgio Pantano.
 * Second win for Coloni Motorsport as an entrant in the FIA GP2 Series.
 * Maiden fastest lap recorded by Timo Glock.

Standings
Lewis Hamilton had seen his Championship lead again receive a minor whack after the trip to Magny-Cours came to a conclusion, although he still held a healthy margin of fourteen points. Nelson Piquet Jr. had remained as the Brit's closest challenger on 56 points, while Alexandre Prémat had held third, some 22 off his teammate. Timo Glock, meanwhile, had breeched the top five after a strong weekend, moving into fourth ahead of Ernesto Viso.

ART Grand Prix had ended the trip to France with complete control of the Teams' Championship maintained, having again enhanced their already sizeable lead. Indeed, their advantage over Piquet Sports had grown to 54 points after the second battle of Magny-Cours, while iSport International had slipped 63 off the lead in third. Arden International and Trident Racing then completed the top five, while Durango had almost tripled their points after the trip to Magny-Cours.