2005 Hockenheimring Sprint Race

The 2005 Hockenheimring Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2005 Hockenheimring GP2 Series Race 2, was the thirteenth race of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hockenheimring in Hockenheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on 24 July 2005. The race, held in support of the LXVII Großer Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland, would see Olivier Pla claim his second win of the campaign after leading the race from pole position.

Indeed, Pla had been fortunate after initially finishing ninth in the Feature Race, meaning he had missed out on the reverse-grid slots. However, a disqualification for Ernesto Viso after the Feature saw Pla elevated to eighth in the results of the Feature, and hence left him on pole for the Sprint ahead of Borja García.

The start of the race saw Pla, García and Giorgio Pantano fight for the lead into the first corner, with Pla ultimately emerging ahead. Pantano, meanwhile, would have to wait until the run through Parabolika to elbow his way past García, with the Spaniard soon forming a rolling road block during the early laps.

Indeed, Pla and Pantno would escape in the opening laps, with García instead holding up Scott Speed, the two Ardens of Heikki Kovalainen and Nicolas Lapierre, as well as dominant Feature winner Nico Rosberg. Speed eventually forced his way past but was unable to pull away from the Spaniard, while Rosberg pulled an excellent double move on the two Ardens at the hairpin to claim fifth.

As the race wore on Pla's lead would continue to grow, while Pantano slowly slid back towards Speed, García and a charging Rosberg. Rosberg duly moved ahead of the Spaniard and onto the tail of Speed as they both caught Pantano, setting up a truel for second in the closing stages.

Ultimately, however, there would be no changes to the order before the end of the race, with Speed's best chance, a lunge into Mercedes, being fended off by Pantano. Rosberg, meanwhile, would try to take advantage of said move but spin through turn nine, dumping him back into the clutches of García although he just had enough momentum to remain ahead.

Out front, meanwhile, Pla would manage his pace beautifully to claim his second Sprint Race win in succession, almost seven seconds clear of Pantano and Speed as their fight crossed the finish line. Behind them, Rosberg set some rapid final laps in a bid to catch back up to the fight, just falling shy, while García kept Kovalainen at bay as they claimed the final points.

Background
The Hockenheimring would be unchanged overnight after the Feature Race, with there likewise being no changes to the overall field overnight. However, there would be a change to the grid, after Ernesto Viso, who had finished eighth in the Feature and hence would have started from pole in the Sprint, excluded after his car was found to be underweight. That Venezuelan racer was hence thrown to the back of the grid for the Sprint, while Olivier Pla was promoted to eighth and hence claimed pole for the Sprint.

Rosberg Repêchage
There had been no major changes to the positions atop the Championship after the first battle of Hockenheim, although there had, potentially crucially, been a major change in the points difference. Indeed, Heikki Kovalainen's huge 20 point lead had been cut in half by Nico Rosberg after the German youth's perfect Saturday afternoon, leaving Rosberg as the Finn's main title pretender. Scott Speed had also gained ground but was still 22 points behind the Finn in third, while Alexandre Prémat had moved into sixth after his second place.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a very good afternoon for ART Grand Prix, as their first one-two, combined with Rosberg's perfect score, moved them to the top of the title hunt. Indeed, they would head into the Sprint Race with a ten point advantage over former leaders Arden International, the first time they had been headed since the. Behind, iSport International had moved up to third ahead of Super Nova Racing, with no changes to the rest of the field.

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.
 * * Álvarez was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * Second and final win for Olivier Pla.
 * Also Pla's second and final podium finish.
 * David Price Racing scored their second victory as an entrant.
 * It was also their last win until the 2010 Hungaroring Sprint Race.

Standings
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.