2016 Hockenheimring Sprint Race

The 2016 Hockenheim Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2016 Hockenheimring Race 2, was the fourteenth round of the 2016 FIA GP2 Series, staged on the 31 July 2016. The race, staged in support of the 2016 German Grand Prix, would see Alex Lynn claim victory, denying Sergey Sirotkin a weekend double.

Lynn started the race from second on the grid, and duly streaked clear at the start as pole sitter Antonio Giovinazzi bogged down. Indeed, the Italian had to go aggressive into the first corner to fend off Arthur Pic, only for Oliver Rowland and Gustav Malja to slip past.

Pierre Gasly would then become the centre of attention as the race settled down, with the Frenchman charging through from 22nd to 14th on the opening tour. He would then pick up two more places as Nabil Jeffri took himself out on Norman Nato, causing a VSC.

Back with the leaders and the top six ran nose-to-tail at the restart, although Lynn managed to hold his nerve and pull away. Rowland was therefore left to fend off Giovinazzi, with the Italian only succeeding in destroying his front wing on the back of the Brit, before charging off into the gravel trap at turn twelve to cause another VSC.

The second restart came and went without issue, although with Lynn and Rowland clear of the pack, now led by Malja in third. The first man to duck past the Swede proved to be Sirotkin, who quickly hunted down Rowland as the laps ticked away, catching and passing him with a dummy at the hairpin with five laps to go.

Unfortunately for Sirotkin he would not be able to catch Lynn before the chequered flag, for the Brit had been able to preserve his tyres from the moment of the second restart. He duly won at a canter, still a second clear of the Russian, while a late nose dive from Rowland's tyres saw the Brit fall to fifth behind Pic and Luca Ghiotto. Gasly was next, a result which put him level with Sirotkin at the top of the Championship, while Raffaele Marciello relegated Malja to eighth on the final tour.

Background
The Hockenheimring required no modification overnight after the Feature, meaning there was no need for a practice session for the GP2 Series. There was, however, a change to the grid for the Sprint, with the late disqualification for Pierre Gasly relegating the Frenchman to the very back of the field from fourth. That promoted the Frenchman's teammate Antonio Giovinazzi into eighth in the Feature results, and therefore onto pole for the Sprint.

Into the Championship and Gasly had retained the lead despite failing to score in the Feature, although he had been drawn in by the majority of the chasing pack. Indeed, Feature winner Sergey Sirotkin had earned the most from the opening race in Hockenheim, moving into second and six points behind the Frenchman. Giovinazzi and Raffaele Marciello were next, level on 100 points and a point off of Sirotkin, while Oliver Rowland remained in touching distance in fifth.

Elsewhere, Prema Racing had miraculously managed to hold their lead in the Teams' Championship after the first race, despite only grabbing a handful of points. Indeed, Russian Time had only succeeded in getting ahead of Racing Engineering to claim second rather than carve into the lead, with the gap between first and second locked at 52 points. ART Grand Prix were instead the biggest winners, moving right into contention for second with 159 points, two off of Racing Engineering and six behind Russian Time.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Grid
The grid for the second race of the weekend at the Hockenheimring was determined from the results of the Feature Race, with the positions of 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.
 * * Jeffri was handed a three place grid penalty for the 2016 Spa Feature Race for causing a collision.

Milestones

 * Alex Lynn scored his fourth victory in the GP2 Series.
 * DAMS secured their 24th win in GP2.
 * Sixth and final podium for Arthur Pic.

Standings
The second race in Germany resulted in a change at the top of the Championship, with Sergey Sirotkin seizing the lead from Pierre Gasly. Indeed, the pair had ended the weekend level on 113 points, both with two wins and two second places, but the Russian was deemed to be ahead courtesy of an additional third place. Behind, Raffaele Marciello had moved two clear of compatriot Antonio Giovinazzi to solidify third, and was still just eleven off the leaders.

In the Teams Championship Prema Racing had seen their lead reduced at the head of the field, although it still stood at healthy 42 points. ART Grand Prix had moved to be the Italian squad's closest challengers, four clear of third placed Russian Time, while Racing Engineering had lost ground in fourth. MP Motorsport were next, four ahead of Campos Racing, while Arden International continued prop up the table in eleventh.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.