2005 Hungaroring Feature Race

The 2005 Hungaroring Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2005 Budapest GP2 Series Race 1, was the fourteenth race of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 30 July 2005. The race, staged in support of the XXI Marlboro Magyar Nagydíj, would see Neel Jani sweep to his maiden victory from pole position.

The Swiss racer would have a fair amount of fortune in claiming his maiden pole position, for man-in-form Nico Rosberg was excluded from the results after setting the fastest time. Indeed, the German racer, as well as ART Grand Prix teammate Alexandre Prémat, were both excluded from qualifying for an illegally mounted steering rack, with Jani duly promoted onto pole ahead of Heikki Kovalainen, while Rosberg and Prémat would start from the back row of the grid.

With the two ARTs at the back and the Hungaroring notoriously dusty off-line, there was little stopping Jani taking the lead at the start, the Swiss racer instantly darting away. Indeed, Kovalainen would make a miserable start on the dust, slipping to fourth behind Giorgio Pantano and Scott Speed.

At the back, meanwhile, several drivers would struggle to get off the grid at all, with Hiroki Yoshimoto, Nicolas Lapierre and Ferdinando Monfardini all having to be dragged into the pits. They would hence join Alexandre Negrão and debutante Giorgio Mondini in the pitlane, those two having stalled on the formation lap, while the demoted Rosberg just managed to keep his car going after his own miserable getaway.

After that Rosberg opted to make a very early pitstop when the pit window opened on lap two, following Nelson Piquet Jr. into the pits as the first stoppers. Rosberg would then begin lighting up the timing screens, although the German youth would also make a fair number of mistakes in his bid to make-up for lost time.

Indeed, Jani seemed to be comfortable out front, with the Swiss racer unconcerned by the pace of Pantano behind, while Speed was unable to keep with them. Indeed, Speed would instead fall to Kovalainen before the stops, with the American racer then losing a lot of time by stopping in the wrong pitbox when he made his stop.

Quickfire stops for the rest of the lead group would see Kovalainen also jump Pantano, while Jani held onto the lead. The order then remained stable with Jani easing away from the Finn, only for José María López to have a heavy accident exiting the final corner, triggering a late Safety Car.

When the race resumed Kovalainen instantly went on the attack, although Jani held his nerve and held onto the lead in the eight lap sprint to the chequered flag. Pantano would join the Finn in the late fight for victory, while Ernesto Viso fought with Rosberg, who had got up to fifth behind teammate Prémat by virtue of his early stop and the SC intervention.

With that the race was run, with Jani controlling the pace well to claim victory, half a second clear of Kovalainen. Pantano held third after a late move on Kovalainen faltered, while Prémat claimed a lonely fourth ahead of Rosberg and Viso, who finished nose-to-tail. Olivier Pla was next up in seventh, while Negrão enjoyed his best GP2 performance to claim the final point and reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race with eighth.

Background
The inaugural FIA GP2 Series followed the Formula One World Championship east across Europe to the outskirts of Budapest, Hungary, for its eighth round of the season, with the field assembling at the Hungaroring at the end of July. The GP2 field would be using the full, revised, Hungaroring layout after its remodelling in 2003, with no further modifications made to the GP2/05 base chassis. There had, however, been a change to the entry list, with a new driver set to make his GP2 debut in place of another disillusioned racer.

A Sharp Price
Ahead of the Hungaroring round David Price Racing and their second driver Ryan Sharp announced a mutual parting of ways, with the British racer having only claimed two points in the first thirteen races. In the Brit's place, the British squad promoted Giorgio Mondini up from the World Series by Renault, while Sharp joined the World Series from the Oschersleben round onward. Mondini himself would arrive in GP2 as the reigning Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, although the Italian-Swiss racer found himself in the bottom part of the World Series field before his promotion to GP2.

A Rosberg Rush
Heikki Kovalainen would leave Germany still holding the lead in the Championship hunt, although he had seen his advantage cut by almost two thirds. Indeed, a stunning home race weekend for Nico Rosberg had seen the German racer fall just three points shy of a weekend maximum score, as he closed the gap to the Finn to just six points from twenty at the start of the weekend. Behind, Scott Speed had gained a fraction on the leader in third, while Adam Carroll had slipped 35 points off the lead in fourth.

In the Teams' Championship it was ART Grand Prix who led the charge leaving Germany, having established a fourteen point lead at the head of the field. They had overhauled Arden International over the course of the trip to the Hockenheimring, with those two the main protagonists for the inaugural Teams' title. Indeed, iSport International and Super Nova Racing both trailed the leaders by 43 points in third and fourth, while Coloni Motorsport were 59 points behind in fifth.

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:
 * * Rosberg and Prémat were excluded from the results of qualifying after failing post-qualifying scrutineering (illegally mounted steering racks).

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Piquet was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * Debut race for Giorgio Mondini.
 * Maiden pole position for Neel Jani.
 * First pole position for Racing Engineering as an entrant.
 * Jani claimed his maiden victory.
 * Also Jani's first podium finish.
 * First win for Racing Engineering as an entrant.
 * Also their first podium as an entrant.
 * Heikki Kovalainen claimed the tenth podium finish for Arden International as an entrant.

Standings
A podium for Heikki Kovalainen saw the Finn extend his Championship lead after the first battle of the Hungaroring, leaving him ten clear at the head of the hunt. Nico Rosberg could therefore not overhaul the Finn even with a maximum score in the Sprint Race, while Scott Speed had slipped 27 off the lead. Neel Jani, meanwhile, had shot up to fourth with his maiden victory, while Alexandre Prémat had likewise moved into the top five.

In the Teams' Championship it was ART Grand Prix who continued to lead the way, as they became the first team to break through the 100 point barrier. Their closest challengers Arden International had inched towards the mark, although the British squad had slipped fifteen off the lead. Super Nova Racing were next up ahead of iSport International, while Racing Engineering had moved up into the top five.