2016 Silverstone Sprint Race

The 2016 Silverstone Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2016 Silverstone Race 2, was the tenth round of the 2016 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Silverstone Circuit on 10 July 2016. The race, held in support of the 2016 British Grand Prix, would see Jordan King claim victory, having fended off a late challenge from Luca Ghiotto.

The Brit would start the race from pole, and duly aced his getaway under dark skies to claim an early lead. His teammate Norman Nato, in contrast, would make a miserable start from second, and duly slipped behind Nobuharu Matsushita and Oliver Rowland.

King duly established a healthy lead at the front of the field, although it was Ghiotto who proved to be the man to watch early on. Indeed, the Italian danced from overtake to overtake to rise from fifth to second in eight laps.

Ghiotto would ultimately catch Nato in the latter stages, and threw everything he could at the Brit as the laps ticked away. Yet, with four laps to go it seemed as if his tyres had cried enough, for the Italian began to fade back away from King suggesting that it was the Brit's race to lose.

However, just as King regained his stranglehold on the race the heavy clouds hanging over Silverstone finally burst, causing chaos throughout the field. Indeed, as Matsushita and Nato went sliding off the circuit, the latter into the gravel and retirement, Ghiotto skated right onto the back of King with a lap to go.

Yet, King would be in no mood to surrender the lead, and duly kept his Racing Engineering slithering ahead of the Trident to claim victory. Behind them came Rowland, who managed to fend off Antonio Giovinazzi in the closing stages as the Italian ace thrived in the wet conditions.

Background
The Silverstone Circuit was unchanged overnight, meaning there was no need for a morning practice session for the GP2 Series. There were also no changes to the grid after the Feature, meaning Jordan King would lead the field away from pole as expected.

Into the Championship and victory in the Feature had propelled Pierre Gasly the top of the Championship, the Frenchman having rocketed from eighth to first on one fell swoop. His teammate Antonio Giovinazzi was next, level with Mitch Evans on points but ahead on count-back, with Oliver Rowland just a point back in fourth. Indeed, it was still incredibly tight at the top of the Championship with just seven points separating Gasly in first and Norman Nato in sixth.

The Teams Championship had seen Prema Racing move to the top of the standings as a result of the Feature, the Italian squad's second one-two of the season carrying them to 142 points. Russian Time had made way for them at the top, ending the afternoon on 123, with Racing Engineering still close enough to worry them on 114. Pertamina Campos Racing were next, sat on 93, with ART Grand Prix having moved back into the top five just behind.

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

Grid
The grid for the tenth race of the 2016 campaign was formed from the finishing positions of the Feature, 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.
 * * Nato was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * Second victory for Jordan King.
 * Racing Engineering scored their 26th victory as an entrant in the GP2 Series.
 * Maiden podium finish for Luca Ghiotto.
 * The Italian also recorded his first fastest lap.

Standings
Oliver Rowland moved the top of the Championship as a result of the chaotic end to the Silverstone Sprint, the Brit ending the afternoon a point ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi. Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, had slipped to third from the lead of the Championship, five off his former position, with Raffaele Marciello a further two behind in fourth. Mitch Evans completed the top five, an addition two behind, while race winner Jordan King was up to seventh.

In the Teams Championship Prema Racing had managed to extend their lead atop the table, moving 23 points clear of Racing Engineering. The Spanish squad themselves had traded places Russian Time, who slipped two behind, while Campos Racing ended the afternoon in fourth. ART Grand Prix completed the top five, having closed the gap to the second Spanish effort, while MP Motorsport were just a point behind ART.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.