2016 Monaco Sprint Race

The 2016 Monaco Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2016 Monte Carlo Race 2, was the fourth race of the 2016 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Monaco on the 28 May 2016. The race, staged in support of the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, would see Nobuharu Matsushita claim victory in dominant fashion.

The Japanese ace would start from pole, although a poor start from the prime starting slot almost allowed Marvin Kirchhöfer to sneak ahead. Fortunately for Matsushita he had the better line into Sainte Devote, meaning it was the ART that scrambled through into the lead out of the first corner.

Another strong starter would be Mitch Evans, although he lost out into the opening corner as he got boxed in behind Raffaele Marciello. That allowed Norman Nato to slip ahead of the Kiwi, while Alex Lynn, Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov exchanged blows just behind.

Indeed, with Markelov streaking clear out front, and Kirchhöfer a clear second, it was the fighting between third and eighth that stole the show. The only lull in the fighting would come mid-race, when as VSC was thrown to allow Sean Gelael to be plucked from the barriers.

Yet, there would be no significant changes to the order, the tight confines of Monte Carlo preventing any real lunges. Regardless, there quintet of cars would run nose-to-tail for most of the race, with the train even beginning to catch Kirchhöfer in the closing stages, until the group broke apart.

Out front, meanwhile, Matsushita was able to run at his own pace, and duly recorded fastest lap en-route to a dominant victory. Kirchhöfer held off Marciello for second across the line, with Evans a lonely fourth after re-passing Nato late on. The Frenchman would also slip behind Lynn, with Rowland and Markelov tucked right in behind.

Background
The Circuit de Monaco was unmodified ahead of the Sprint Race, meaning there was no need for the GP2 Series to practice before the second race of the weekend. There were, however, changes to the grid after some post-Feature penalties, with Antonio Giovinazzi once again knocked out of the top eight for an infringement. That put Nobuharu Matsushita into the top eight in the results of the Feature, and therefore on pole for the Sprint Race.

Into the Championship and Artem Markelov moved to the top after his maiden GP2 victory in the Feature, climbing two ahead of Norman Nato. Third after the third race would be Alex Lynn, while Pierre Gasly had tumbled to fourth after failing to score. At the back, meanwhile, Mitch Evans, Marvin Kirchhöfer, Sergey Sirotkin, Daniël de Jong and Arthur Pic had all added their names to the board.

Russian Time were leading the charge in the Teams' Championship with three races gone, moving four points clear of second placed Racing Engineering. DAMS were next, just ten off the lead, with Prema Racing in fourth having failed to register a point. MP Motorsport completed the top five, while Campos Racing were the latest team on the board in seventh.

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

Grid
The grid for the fourth race of the 2016 campaign was formed from the finishing positions of 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

 * Nobuharu Matsushita secured his second victory in the GP2 Series.
 * ART Grand Prix claimed their 46th win in GP2.
 * Maiden podium finish for Marvin Kirchhöfer.

Standings
Norman Nato would leave Monte Carlo at the head of the GP2 Series of 2016, a point clear of fellow race winner Artem Markelov after four races. Alex Lynn would end the weekend in third ahead of Pierre Gasly, mystified as to how he had failed to score, while Raffaele Marciello completed the top five. Elsewhere, Nobuharu Matsushita had leapt into seventh with his second victory in GP2, while there were no new faces on the scoreboard lower down.

In the Teams' Championship it was Russian Time whom had emerged on top on the Mediterranean coast, eleven clear of their nearest rivals. Those opponents appeared in the form of Racing Engineering, who were themselves five ahead of DAMS, suggesting there would be a close fight for the Championship. Indeed, Prema Racing barely had half the number of points of those ahead in fourth, and were instead in danger of slipping behind some vastly more experienced outfits behind them.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.