2006 Hockenheimring Sprint Race

The 2006 Hockenheimring Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2006 Hockenheim GP2 Series Race 2, was the fifteenth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 30 July 2006. Held in support of the LXVIII Großer Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland, the race would see Timo Glock claim his second victory on home soil, as Lewis Hamilton continued to inch his way to the title.

Gianmaria Bruni had claimed victory in the Feature Race, and hence would start the Sprint from eighth. Clivio Piccione, meanwhile, would start from pole having finished eighth in the Feature, with José María López starting alongside.

Piccione duly traded pole for the lead when the lights went out at the start, resisting the challenge of López into the right hand flick of turn one. Glock, meanwhile, would make an excellent start to leap from sixth to fourth, while Adam Carroll kept Hamilton at bay to secure sixth behind Ernesto Viso.

Piccione's lead was not to last, however, for the Monegasque racer would run wide at the hairpin and let López through, before driving into the side of Giorgio Pantano as he rejoined. That broke Piccione's steering and put the Monqgasque racer out completely, with López duly escaping up the road in the early stages.

As López broke away Glock and Hamilton crept up the order, with the German racer moving into second on lap five, while Hamilton grabbed third a few laps later. There was further good news for the Brit in regards to his title ambitions, for main rival Nelson Piquet Jr. had failed to start, while teammate Alexandre Prémat was removed from the action via contact with Hiroki Yoshimoto.

With third deemed a worthy points haul and his title rivals out, Hamilton appeared to settle for third, having been unable to really beat the pace of López and Glock ahead. Indeed, in the closing stages it was Glock who had the best pace of the lead trio, with the German racer ominiously closing onto the tail of López as they started the final tour.

Glock's chance came right at the start of the final lap, with a slow run for López out of turn one allowing Glock to challenge into turn two. Seizing the inside line for the right hander, Glock duly shot into the lead as López slid wide with oversteer mid-corner, while Hamilton had slipped too far back to take advantage through the Parabolika.

With that the race was run, with Glock sweeping across the line to claim his second victory of the campaign, while López secured fastest lap and second. Hamilton, meanwhile, was a satisfied third ahead of Viso and Pantano, while Bruni battled back from a poor start to claim the final point in sixth.

Background
The Hockenheimring would require no alterations ahead of the Sprint Race, with the field set to complete the same 120 km race distance as they had in 2005. There were likewise no late revisions to the entry list, with Clivio Piccione to start from pole position as expected having finished in eighth in the Feature Race.

Bruni Bounty
Despite having to battle up the field, it was Championship leader Lewis Hamilton who emerged on top after the Hockenheim Feature, for the British racer had added eight points to his tally and his lead. Indeed, Nelson Piquet Jr. ended the afternoon some 22 points behind the Brit, while third placed Alexandre Prémat had also lost ground to fall 29 behind his teammate. Instead, the big winner of the afternoon had been Gianmaria Bruni, who shot into fifth behind Timo Glock with pole and victory, while there were no changes in the lower half of the field.

Likewise, it had been a positive afternoon for the leaders in the Teams' Championship, as ART Grand Prix again extended their advantage. They headed into the Hockenheim Sprint with a 61 point lead over iSport International, with the British squad having moved ahead of Piquet Sports after a strong double-score. Arden International and Trident Racing then completed the top five while, at the back of the field, DPR Direxiv had moved back ahead of Campos Racing.

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

 * Second career victory for Timo Glock.
 * Fourth win for iSport International.
 * Sixth and final podium finish for José María López.
 * López recorded his first and only fastest lap.

Standings
Third place was less significant than the fact that both his main title rivals had again failed to score for Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, who entered the final three rounds of the campaign with an impressive 82 point tally. That meant his lead over second placed Nelson Piquet Jr. stood at 26 points with 60 points left to fight for, while Alexandre Prémat was 33 off the lead in third. Timo Glock, meanwhile, had moved closer to the fight for second, Ernesto Viso had moved back ahead of Gianmaria Bruni to complete the top five, while Giorgio Pantano nudged closer to the top ten.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a relatively quiet day at the head of the Championship, with ART Grand Prix having seen their huge lead take only a minor hit. Indeed, as their scoring run hit eleven consecutive races and their points tally 131 points, their advantage had been reduced to 56 points by iSport International, who had themselves reinforced their hold on second. Behind, a non-score for Piquet Sports had dropped them 67 points off the lead, while Arden International and Trident Racing completed the top five.