2006 Nürburgring Sprint Race

The 2006 Nürburgring Sprint Race, formally known as the 2006 Nürburgring GP2 Series Race 2, was the sixth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on 7 May 2006. The race would see Lewis Hamilton claim his second victory, becoming only the second driver to win both races at a GP2 Series race meeting.

Hiroki Yoshimoto would start the race from pole, sharing the front row with Alexandre Negrão after they finished eighth and seventh respectively in the Feature Race. However, there would be a rather serious thinning of the herd before the race, as six drivers including Ernesto Viso and Alexandre Prémat, stalled on the formation lap and had to start from the pitlane.

Their absence was to the benefit of Hamilton, for he instantly gained two spots at the start, before latching onto the tail of José María López. Out front, meanwhile, Yoshimoto would leap into the lead unopposed, with Negrão instead falling into the swarm as a fast starting Nicolas Lapierre shot into second.

The early laps saw Yoshimoto establish a small lead over Lapierre, while Adam Carroll held third ahead of López and Hamilton. Indeed, López was having to put up a terrific rear-guard action to keep Hamilton behind, although the Brit would break the Argentine's resistance on lap five to seize fifth.

Carroll fell to Hamilton a few laps later, with Lapierre likewise managing to keep the #2 ART at bay for five laps before he too relented. With that Hamilton was off to attack Yoshimoto for the lead, and with seven laps to go the Japanese racer saw the Brit scythe his #2 ART down the inside of turn one to secure the lead, before sweeping away in the lead.

The race for victory was over in that moment, for Hamilton simply pulled clear of Yoshimoto, before the Japanese racer hit the kerb at the final corner and allowed Lapierre and López through. Carroll, meanwhile, would fall just shy of overtaking the #18 BCN Competición in the same moment, while Michael Ammermüller had moved into sixth albeit with a feisty Nelson Piquet Jr. on his tail.

Ultimately, however, there would be no late changes to the order once Piquet hit mechanical strife and dropped out, with Hamilton sweeping across the line to become the second driver after karting teammate Nico Rosberg to claim two victories in a race meeting. Lapierre and López then completed the podium ahead of Yoshimoto and Carroll, Ammermüller rounded out the scorers in sixth, while Gianmaria Bruni claimed the bonus point for fastest lap in sixteenth.

Background
No changes were required to the GP-Strecke of the Nürburgring ahead of the Sprint Race, with similar stability in both the weather and entry list as well. That meant that Hiroki Yoshimoto would start the race from pole position as expected, with Feature Race winner Lewis Hamilton starting from eighth.

Strecke Saturday
Nelson Piquet Jr. had retained his lead in the Championship after the Nürburgring Feature Race, with 27 points keeping him seven clear at the head of the pack. His closest challenger was now pre-season favourite Lewis Hamilton after the Brit's maiden victory left him seven behind the Brazilian, level on points with Nicolas Lapierre. Ernesto Viso and Gianmaria Bruni then completed the top five, while Adam Carroll and Alexandre Negrão were the latest drivers to add their name to the scoresheet.

In the Teams' Championship it was still Arden International who led the charge after the fifth race of the campaign, although their advantage had been cut back. This time it was ART Grand Prix who had done the damage, moving to within three of the Anglo squad, having started the afternoon in fifth. Their ascent carried them past Piquet Sports, iSport International and Trident Racing, while Racing Engineering were on the board in ninth.

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:


 * * Viso, Prémat, Gommendy, Glock, di Grassi and Monfardini all started the race from the pitlane after stalling on the formation lap.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Prémat set the fastest lap of the race (1:40.983) but was ineligible to score the bonus point as he started from the pitlane.

Milestones

 * Second career victory for Lewis Hamilton.
 * Hamilton became the second driver to claim two victories at a GP2 Series race meeting.
 * ART Grand Prix claimed their ninth win as an entrant.

Standings
Nelson Piquet Jr. had again retained the Championship lead leaving the third race weekend of the season, although his advantage had almost been entirely wiped out as he failed to score. Indeed, double winner Lewis Hamilton had closed the gap to just a single point after his strongest GP2 Series weekend to date, with Nicolas Lapierre only a point further back in third. Ernesto Viso and Gianmaria Bruni then completed the top five, with fifteen drivers on the board after six races.

In the Teams' Championship there had been little change, although Arden International had seen their lead cut to just three points as the third race weekend came to a conclusion. Indeed, just three points separated them from second placed ART Grand Prix, while Piquet Sports had slipped thirteen off the lead in third. Behind, iSport International and Trident Racing completed the top five, level on nineteen points, while DPR Direxiv, DAMS and Durango were the only non-scorers.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.