2005 Barcelona Feature Race

The 2005 Barcelona Feature Race, formally known as the 2005 Barcelona GP2 Series Race 1, was the third race of the inaugural 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 7 May 2005. The race, held in support of the XLVII Gran Premio Marlboro de España, would see Gianmaria Bruni claim his first GP2 victory after claiming the lead at the start.

After a chaotic, mechanically challenged, season opener in Imola, the GP2 Series introduced some adjusted regulations. The first would see the number of compulsory stops for the Feature Race cut to just one, although two tyres (minimum) must be changed, while the second dictated that drivers had to complete 90% of the race distance to claim the bonus points for fastest lap.

Into the Barcelona weekend itself and it was iSport International pilot Scott Speed who claimed his maiden GP2 pole position, beating Bruni by almost half a second. José María López and Nelson Piquet Jr. were next up, while Championship leader Heikki Kovalainen would only claim eleventh for Arden International.

Speed duly took a very aggressive attitude at the start of the race, instantly darting across the circuit to try and block Bruni into the first corner. However, the Italian racer had simply out-gunned the American racer when the lights went out and so squeezed ahead, with López likewise managing to get alongside the #1 iSport to claim second in the first corner.

Behind there would be some chaos as Olivier Pla stalled on the grid, resulting in cars scattering across the circuit, and some onto the grass, to avoid the stationary Frenchman. The big winner from that cluster would be Ernesto Viso as he streaked up the order from the back, while Pla was pushed into the pitlane once the herd had disappeared to have his engine restarted.

The opening stages saw Bruni establish a healthy two second lead over López, who was able to keep a small margin over Speed as the top three broke clear. Elsewhere, Kovalainen opted to make an early stop when the pitlane opened on lap three, with himself and Neel Jani gambling on a long second stop on four fresh Bridgestone tyres to climb up the field.

As the race approached the halfway point the order had stabilised, with the only revisions to the top eight coming when Borja García spun out, and Juan Cruz Álvarez crashed out in the early laps. Indeed, it was only as they reached half-distance that Speed managed to get onto terms with López, although he would be unable to seriously threaten the Argentine racer.

The lead stalemate was ended a few laps later, with Bruni surrendering the lead when he made his stop for two new tyres. The Italian returned to fifth on track as López inherited the lead, although the Argentine racer would stop a lap later and rejoin behind Bruni's Coloni.

Unfortunately for López his hopes of victory would be ended by an off after he rejoined from the pits, with Adam Carroll getting a scare when the # DAMS suddenly appeared from an escape road. Out front, meanwhile, Speed would wait until the closing stages before making his stop, rejoining behind Bruni and Alexandre Negrão moved into the lead, being the last man to make a stop.

Once Negrão stopped the order out front seemed to have been settled, although Speed would steadily reel in Bruni as the final laps ticked away. Indeed, the American racer would get within a second of the #17 Coloni, although the dirty air from Bruni's car ultimately ensured that Speed could get no closer.

That factor would decide the race, with Bruni able to keep Speed at bay through to the chequered flag to claim his maiden GP2 triumph, still a second ahead of the American racer. Kovalainen was next up ahead of fellow early stopper Jani, while Piquet Jr. battled his way up to fifth ahead of López. Carroll was next up after being muscled out of the way by López, while Negrão's late stop left him in eighth with the final point and reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race.

Background
The second round of the inaugural 2005 GP2 Series would see the field assemble at the Circuit de Barcelona in Catalunya, Spain, again in support of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The GP2 field would use the well established full layout of the Barcelona circuit, featuring fourteen corners and a long start/finish straight. However, there were concerns about how much overtaking would be achieved on a circuit known to generate processional races, with the GP2/05 already having gained a reputation for creating a lot of dirty air.

Stop Streamlining
Ahead of the second round the FIA and series organisers would make some revisions to the rulebook, after some confusion about the sporting rules. Indeed, in order to simplify the pitstop phase during the Feature Race, the FIA declared that drivers would only have to make one compulsory stop during the Feature, although teams would have to change a minimum of two tyres, and refuel the car. In Imola there had been a two-stop rule for the field, although teams had not been required to change tyres or refuel during one of the stops.

Fastest Lap Loopholes
The series organisers also moved to close a loophole exploited by Nicolas Lapierre during the Imola Sprint Race, which had seen the Frenchman record the fastest lap of the race with a series of low-fuel runs, despite retiring from the race. As a result a new rule was implemented that meant that in order to claim the bonus fastest lap, a driver must complete 90% of the race distance, regardless of finishing position. This hence meant that a driver had to be classified at the end of the race in order to score the points, and hence ruled out the controversial methods of Lapierre and Arden International.

Imola Industry
Heikki Kovalainen had rounded out the opening round of the season with the Championship lead, having been the only driver to claim two podium finishes. Adam Carroll, meanwhile, had shot up to second with his maiden triumph in the Imola Sprint, while José María López occupied third, level on points with Gianmaria Bruni. Alexandre Prémat then completed the top five, with Nicolas Lapierre a notable seventh despite failing to finish either race at Imola.

In the Teams' Championship it was Arden International who would arrive in Barcelona at the head of the hunt, having claimed eighteen points on the opening weekend. Super Nova Racing were their closest challengers in second, eight behind, while ART Grand Prix were ten off the lead in third. The French squad themselves were level on points with DAMS and Coloni Motorsport, who completed the top five, with everyone bar Campos Racing and Durango having scored points during the first race weekend.

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

Qualifying
Qualifying for the inaugural GP2 Series race would be staged via a thirty minute session on Friday afternoon, ahead of the Feature Race on Saturday. All 24 drivers would venture onto the circuit during the session, and were allowed to complete as many laps as they could to set their qualifying time. There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of Bridgestone tyres.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:

Grid

 * * Yoshimoto started the race from the pitlane after stalling on the formation lap.

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

Milestones

 * First (and only) pole position for Scott Speed.
 * First pole for iSport International as an entrant.
 * Maiden victory for Gianmaria Bruni.
 * Also Bruni's first podium finish.
 * Coloni Motorsport claimed their first win as an entrant.
 * Maiden points finish for Alexandre Negrão.
 * Nico Rosberg recorded his first fastest lap.

Standings
Heikki Kovalainen had retained his lead and his 100% podium record in the fledgling 2005 GP2 Series, and would head into Sunday's race with a two point advantage. Gianmaria Bruni had been the literal and figurative winner of the Barcelona Feature, leaping into second, while Scott Speed had likewise shot up the order to claim third. Adam Carroll, meanwhile, had slipped to fourth, a point ahead of José María López, while Alexandre Negrão had his name on the board for the first time.

In the Teams' Championship it was still Arden International who headed the charge after the third race, and would end Sunday's running with 24 points to their credit. That translated into a six point advantage over Coloni Motorsport after the Italian squad's maiden triumph, with iSport International having similarly moved up into the top three. Super Nova Racing had made way for them and slipped to fourth, while Campos Racing and Durango had again failed to open their respective accounts.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.