2007 Istanbul Feature Race

The 2007 Istanbul Feature Race, formally known as the 2007 Istanbul GP2 Series Race 1, was the fourteenth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series staged at the Istanbul Park circuit in Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, on 25 August 2007. The race would see Lucas di Grassi claim his maiden GP2 Series victory, benefitting from a mistake from Andreas Zuber when the Emirate racer spun himself out while leading.

Qualifying had seen Luca Filippi sweep to his second pole position of the campaign and first since the opening round, beating Timo Glock by a quarter of a second. Zuber would start the race from third, a fraction behind his Championship leading teammate, while di Grassi qualified in sixth behind Adam Carroll.

The start of the race saw both Filippi and Glock make miserable getaways, allowing Zuber to streak past the pair of them to secure the lead into the first corner. Behind, di Grassi would also sprint past the slower duo to claim second, before Adrian Zaugg, Andy Soucek and Mike Conway tripped over each other in the middle of the pack.

Their accident would leave debris scattered across the first corner, although the officials held off calling the Safety Car immediately. That would not be to Filippi's benefit, for the Italian racer would spin into the gravel at the chicane later around the opening tour, ruining his hopes of victory and severely denting his title hopes in one fell loop.

With Filippi also stuck the SC was called during the second lap, prompting the majority of the field to immediately dart into the pits at the end of the lap. The notable exception was Glock, who did not want to queue behind his teammate in the pitlane, with the German racer joined in his gamble by Alexandre Negrão, Roldán Rodríguez and debutante Ricardo Risatti.

At the restart Glock instantly broke clear, while Risatti instantly fell to Zuber as the Emirati racer went on the attack. The following laps would see Glock continue to inch away at the head of the field, although not by enough to build a sufficient margin over those that had stopped behind the SC.

Zuber was therefore set to comfortably reclaim the lead as the race reached half distance, although he was becoming increasingly frustrated behind a very defensive Rodríguez. That frustration would prompt Zuber to try a risky move on the Spaniard, resulting in the #6 iSport International lunging down the inside of Rodríguez, locking up and sliding into the gravel and out of the race.

With that di Grassi was left in the de facto lead of the race, although he would have to wait until Glock, Negrão and Rodríguez made their stops to officially move to the front. Glock duly rejoined in fourth after a succession of strong laps, but would have to make up some time to catch the now third placed Adam Carroll.

Ultimately Glock would run out of time to force his way past Carroll, with di Grassi sweeping across the line to claim his maiden victory and the Championship lead. Giorgio Pantano trailed him across the line in second, while Carroll had Glock tucked right under his rear wing as he passed the chequered flag to secure third. Borja García was next up after a late fight with Kazuki Nakajima, Negrão finished seventh, while Karun Chandhok claimed the final point and pole for the Sprint Race.

Background
The 2007 FIA GP2 Series moved south and east to the border of Europe and Asia for its eighth round of the season, arriving at the Istanbul Park paddock in Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey. Supporting the III Petrol Ofisi Türkiye Grand Prix'si, the GP2 Series would find the Turkish circuit unchanged for its third visit, which had remained as the only anti-clockwise circuit on the calendar. In contrast there were a couple of changes to the entry list ahead of the trip to Turkey, both the result of injury.

Maldonado Misery
In the two week break between the previous round in Hungary and the trip to Turkey, Pastor Maldonado would injure himself while training, suffering a broken collarbone after a biking accident. The Venezuelan racer was fortunate to avoid the need for surgery, but would still face a minimum three week recovery period due to sustaining a compound fracture. He was hence replaced by Ricardo Risatti for the trip to Turkey, with the Argentine racer set to make his GP2 debut after forfeiting his seat in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.

Scandinavian Struggles
Elsewhere, Markus Niemelä was forced to miss the trip to Turkey, after dislocating his shoulder during the 2007 Hungaroring Feature Race, an injury that had forced him to miss the Hungarian Sprint. While it was widely expected that Niemelä would miss the trip to Turkey, it was only in the build up to the race that BCN Competición confirmed his absence, with Finnish compatriot Henri Karjalainen unveiled as his replacement. Karjalainen would make his full GP2 debut in Turkey, having never even tested a GP2 car before, having had something of a break-out year after claiming second in the Asian F3 Championship earlier in the season.

Elsewhere, Danish racer Christian Bakkerud affirmed that he would compete in Turkey in-spite of his recurring trapped nerve issue that had ruled him out of the second race in Hungary. However, after practice the Dane opted to withdraw from the weekend after the pain in his back grew too intense for him to battle against.

Condensed Competition
There had been a marked change to the Championship standings after the GP2 Series left Hungary, for Championship leader Timo Glock had seen his lead all but eroded away completely after another double non-score, barring his points for pole. Indeed, Lucas di Grassi had moved to within one point of the German racer, and felt he could have pushed for more in the Hungaroring Sprint after their on-track fight was cut short by Glock's woes. Furthermore, those two seemed to be in a lonely duel for the title, with Luca Filippi twenty points away in third, two ahead of Kazuki Nakajima.

In the Teams' Championship there had been little change to the overall picture, with iSport International having seen their lead reduced, although not by enough to cause undue concern. Indeed, the British squad would leave with a comfortable twenty point margin over defending Champions ART Grand Prix, who were themselves fourteen clear of Super Nova Racing in third. DAMS and Campos Grand Prix then completed the top five, while it had been another pointless weekend for BCN Competición and Carlin DPR at the foot of the table.

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:
 * * Bakkerud was withdrawn from the race meeting after his trapped nerve injury recurred during practice.

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

 * Debut race for Henri Karjalainen, Marcos Martínez and Ricardo Risatti.
 * Lucas di Grassi claimed his maiden GP2 Series victory.
 * ART Grand Prix secured their fourteenth win.

Standings
For the first time since the second race of the season in Bahrain, a name other than that of Timo Glock appeared at the top of the Championship as the German youth continued to lose points to his rivals. Lucas di Grassi had used victory to overhaul his main title rival, and would head into the second race of the weekend with a four point advantage over Glock. Luca Filippi was next up in third having again lost ground to the lead duo, and instead had Giorgio Pantano and Kazuki Nakajima breathing down his neck, both just a point behind.

iSport International headed into the second half of the weekend in Turkey still holding a healthy lead, although their advantage had been reduced to fifteen points. ART Grand Prix had therefore closed the gap, but remained solidly in second, while Super Nova Racing had lost more ground in third, some 37 points off the lead. DAMS and Campos Grand Prix then completed the top five, while at the back of the field Durango Corse overtook Minardi Piquet Sports.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.