2007 Monza Sprint Race

The 2007 Monza Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2007 Monza GP2 Series Race 2, was the seventeenth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Lombardy, Italy, on 9 September 2007. The race would see Timo Glock claim victory after a battling performance, a result which also enhanced his Championship lead.

Pole position for the Sprint had been handed to Ricardo Risatti after he claimed eighth place in the Feature, with Sébastien Buemi set to start alongside. Glock, meanwhile, would start from sixth alongside Bruno Senna, while Feature winner Giorgio Pantano was to start from eighth.

The start saw Risatti ease into the lead from pole, while Senna charged up from fifth to second after acing his getaway before engaging Risatti into the Rettifilo. Behind, Buemi and Pantano would scrap for third into the chicane, while Glock had moved up to fifth in the charge.

There was more drama towards the end of the opening lap, with Mike Conway spinning at the Parabolica, before being struck by Adrian Zaugg hard enough to remove the South African racer from the race, while Conway continued. On track, meanwhile, Pantano scythed past Buemi and then Senna to move up to second at the start of the second tour, only for his lunge at Risatti a lap later to cause the Italian racer to spin himself back down to sixth.

As Pantano tumbled Glock moved up to assume his place as the main charger in the race, the German racer having made a move on Buemi to claim third when Pantano spun out. He duly began to harass Senna for second, waiting for the Brazilian racer to make a mistake entering the Parabolica to claim the position, before quickly sprinting onto the back of Risatti.

Glock's inevitable move for the lead came on the following tour, with the #5 iSport International car simply breezing past Risatti down the start/finish straight. Risatti was then immediately dumped back to fourth as Luca Filippi and Senna barged past him at the Rettifilo, before Senna's attempt to pass Filippi ended with the Brazilian bouncing across the gravel.

Risatti's tumble continued as he fell to Lucas di Grassi a couple of laps later, before hitting the back of the Brazilian as he tried to fend off the resurgent Pantano. With Risatti out with damage Pantano went on the attack to try and claim fourth from di Grassi, although he only succeeded in missing his braking point and allowing Buemi back past.

A couple of laps later and it was Buemi's turn to miss his braking point, only for Pantano to smack into his tail and send him spinning out of the race. Pantano, for his part, was left with a damaged front wing, but refused to acknowledge the mechanical warning flag and continued on in fifth place, a decision that would ultimately lead to him being disqualified.

With that the race was run, with Glock able to keep Filippi at arm's length to claim his fourth win of the campaign, and a healthy lead in the Championship. Behind, Senna completed the podium ahead of di Grassi, while Andreas Zuber pounced on the limping Pantano to secure fifth. Pantano hence crossed the line in sixth, although his subsequent disqualification elevated Karun Chandhok up to claim the final point.

Background
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza was unchanged ahead of the second race of the weekend, with conditions similarly remaining stable for Sunday morning's action. There had, however, been some changes to the grid, with Kazuki Nakajima, Roldán Rodríguez and Andy Soucek all serving grid penalties for causing collisions in the Feature Race. That, however, would not have an impact on the front of the field, with Ricardo Risatti set to start from pole position for the first time after claiming eighth in the Feature.

Pantano Perfection
Timo Glock would head into the second race at Monza with his Championship enhanced and, briefly, unassailable after his podium finish, which left him eight clear at the head of the hunt. Lucas di Grassi had therefore lost ground in second after his penultimate lap glitch, while Giorgio Pantano had kept himself in the hunt in third after his maximum score, but faced a huge 23 point deficit. Behind, Luca Filippi had slipped to fourth ahead of Kazuki Nakajima, while Ricardo Risatti had become the season's 25th scorer.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International had broken through the 100 point barrier after the opening bout in Monza, with Glock's podium having left them on exactly 100 points. That translated into a healthy 26 point lead over second placed ART Grand Prix, while behind Campos Grand Prix had ascended to third after Pantano's triumph. Super Nova Racing had made way for their Spanish rivals and slipped to fourth, while DAMS had held station in fifth.

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.
 * * Pantano was disqualified from the race for ignoring the mechanical warning flag instructing him to pit for repairs.

Milestones

 * Olivier Pla made his 35th and final FIA GP2 Series start.
 * Sixth victory for Timo Glock.
 * Ninth win for iSport International as an entrant.
 * Third and final fastest lap recorded by Adam Carroll.
 * It was also Carroll's first fastest lap since the 2005 Spa Sprint Race.

Standings
Timo Glock had used his fourth win of the campaign to extend his Championship lead to eleven points leaving Monza, with the German youth having moved onto 78 points. That meant that Lucas di Grassi was almost a full Feature Race's worth of points behind Glock heading to Spa, although he still remained the closest threat to the German racer heading into the final four races. Indeed, with only 40 points left to fight for third placed Luca Filippi was realistically too far back to challenge, having slipped 28 points behind in Italy.

In the Teams' Championship it was iSport International who ended the weekend in Italy with a commanding advantage, with the British squad heading into the penultimate meeting in Spa with a 31 point lead. Indeed, ART Grand Prix would likely have to claim four one-twos in the final four races in order to overhaul the British squad, with a maximum of 66 points left to fight for over the remaining rounds. Behind, Super Nova Racing and Campos Grand Prix completed the top five, and remained in the title hunt mathematically, while Carlin DPR and BCN Competición had once again failed to claim points.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.