2006 Hungaroring Sprint Race

The 2006 Hungaroring Sprint Race, formally known as the 2006 Hungaroring GP2 Series Race 2, was the seventeenth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary, on 6 August 2006. The race would see Nelson Piquet Jr. make GP2 history by claiming fastest lap and victory, meaning he became the first driver to claim maximum points at a GP2 Series meeting having claimed a Grand Slam in the Feature Race.

Indeed, Piquet, having claimed victory in the Feature, would have to fight his way up from eighth on the grid, courtesy of the reverse-grid rule. Pole, meanwhile, would be occupied by José María López after he finished in eighth in the Feature, with Adam Carroll starting alongside.

Ahead of the race a huge downpour would sweep across the Hungaroring, with the circuit so wet that the officials opted to start the race behind the Safety Car. After three sighting laps the field were finally released, with López heading the charge into the first corner with Carroll tucked right under his tail.

López's lead would not last very long, however, as the Argentine sent himself spinning at turn four while defending from Carroll. The Ulsterman hence moved into an unopposed lead, despite a wobble of his own a few moments later, with the rest of the field having had to scatter around Alexandre Prémat as the Frenchman slid across the first corner.

The track remained treacherous throughout the early stages, with Alexandre Negrão firing off into the barriers on the brakes for turn one at the start of lap two, allowing a recovering Prémat back into second. Lewis Hamilton almost followed the Brazilian off, and hence slipped behind Piquet, before Carroll aquaplaned off the circuit and into the wall.

As the #9 Racing Engineering demolished its nose in the barriers, Piquet swept past Prémat to secure the lead, before easing clear as the conditions remained difficult. Indeed, Prémat's tentative approach would also allow Hamilton to move into second, and let Ernesto Viso close up as the laps ticked away.

Indeed, despite an improvement in the weather the track conditions remained very difficult, meaning the race became a timed affair and fell well shy of its expected distance. Furthermore, there were other incidents to thin the field, with Lucas di Grassi spinning into the barriers, Carroll giving up on his wounded car, while Timo Glock literally barged his way past teammate Viso on the final lap, only to slip back behind the Venezuelan later on the final tour.

Out front, meanwhile, an imperious Piquet completed his historic victory, recording a succession of fastest laps to claim a maximum score for the weekend. Hamilton did all he could to reduce the damage to his Championship lead by finishing second, while Prémat continued to struggle to the chequered flag in third. Indeed, he had the barging iSport International duo to thank as Viso and Glock cost themselves time late on fighting over fourth, while Ferdinando Monfardini secured the final point in sixth.

Background
There were no changes to the Hungaroring ahead of the Sprint Race, with the GP2 Series field likewise unchanged after finishing the Feature Race. As a result, José María López would start from pole position as expected having finished eighth in the Feature, while Feature winner Nelson Piquet Jr. would start from eighth.

Piquet Peak
On the surface there appeared to have been little change to the overall Championship picture, for Lewis Hamilton still held a healthy lead, while there had been no changes to the order in the top seven. However, the Brit's lead had been cut in half after his first failure to score since Imola, with Nelson Piquet Jr. moving to within thirteen points of the leader. Alexandre Prémat was next up ahead of Timo Glock, who had both inched closer to the leader, while Ernesto Viso remained in the top five.

In the Teams' Championship it was ART Grand Prix who continued to hold the initiative, with the French squad having moved onto 134 points for the campaign. Their lead had been reduced by ten, however, after a very strong afternoon for iSport International, who closed the gap to 46 points, while Piquet Sports had likewise stepped slightly closer. Arden International and Trident Racing then completed the top five, while FMS International moved ahead of Super Nova 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.
 * * The race was originally scheduled for 28 laps (122.668 km).

Milestones

 * Fourth win for Nelson Piquet Jr.
 * Piquet became the first driver to claim a maximum score across a GP2 Series race weekend.
 * Piquet Sports claimed their fourth victory as an entrant.
 * Lewis Hamilton scored his tenth podium finish.

Standings
A second straight victory and maximum points haul for Nelson Piquet Jr. had ensured that the Brazilian continued his late rally in the title hunt, although he still faced a eleven point deficit leaving Hungary. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton had absorbed most of the damage to his lead by battling up to second in the Sprint, with those two now realistically the only drivers still in the title fight. That was because Alexandre Prémat and Timo Glock were still mathematically in the hunt, but faced 31 and 37 point gaps to Hamilton, with only 40 left to fight for.

In contrast the Teams' Championship was almost over, with ART Grand Prix holding a huge 50 point lead, with only 66 points left to fight for in the final four races. That advantage meant they would win the Championship if they were not outscored by iSport International by five points in the 2006 Istanbul Feature Race. The only other team that could now deny the French squad were Piquet Sports, although they faced a 55 point deficit heading into the final rounds.