2007 Hungaroring Sprint Race

The 2007 Hungaroring Sprint Race, formally known as the 2007 Budapest GP2 Series Race 2, was the thirteenth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 5 August 2007. The race would see Javier Villa collect his third Sprint Race win from pole position in four rounds, as title rivals Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi battled on track behind.

Villa had secured pole for the Sprint by finishing eighth in the Feature Race, and would share the front row with Adrian Zaugg. Behind them would sit Roldán Rodríguez and Borja García, while Feature winner Adam Carroll would start from eighth courtesy of the reverse-grid rule.

Things would not go Villa's way at the start of the race, however, for the Spaniard would be beaten off the grid by a fast starting Zaugg. The South African racer even had enough in hand over Villa to make a mess of his braking for the first corner and still retain the lead, before jetting off to build a lead.

Zaugg's escape was aided by the antics of Rodríguez, for the Spaniard would make a surprise lunge at his compatriot Villa into the chicane further around the opening tour to snatch second. That left Villa in the sights of Carroll, who had made a crushing getaway from the grid to pass Kazuki Nakajima, Alexandre Negrão, di Grassi and García to leap into fourth.

With that the race quickly settled, although by lap seven Rodríguez had moved under Zaugg's rear wing and was lining up a move. On lap ten the Spanish racer pounced, sending a lunge at Zaugg into turn two just as the South African racer moved across to take his line for the corner. A clash of wheels duly sent both drivers skating wide, gifting the lead to Villa, with Rodríguez scrambling back on in third while Zaugg dropped to a furious sixth.

Zaugg's car and efforts would take another knock a few laps later when Nakajima made a clumsy lunge at him, a move which gifted sixth to Glock. Glock then moved onto the tail of rival di Grassi, aided by teammate Andreas Zuber courteously spinning out fifth position while separating the title pretenders.

For seven laps Glock would harass his main title rival, as ahead Carroll tried and failed to force Villa into an error to claim the lead. However, when Glock ran wide at turn two it was clear that there was something wrong, and a lap later the #5 iSport International entry was limping into its pit box to retire.

That settled the race, with Villa maintaining his composure against the attentions of Carroll to secure his third win of the campaign, while Rodríguez claimed his maiden podium finish in third. di Grassi was a content fourth ahead of García, while Zuber inherited the final point on the penultimate tour when Karun Chandhok suffered a gearbox failure as he started the final lap.

Background
The natural amphitheatre that formed the Hungaroring was unchanged ahead of the second FIA GP2 Series race of the weekend, with no change to the warm European summer conditions either. Likewise, there had been no change to the entry list, with Marcos Martínez denied a spot on the grid after failing to set a 107% in qualifying. That, however, would have no impact on the rest of the field, with Javier Villa set to start the Sprint from pole position after claiming eighth in the Feature Race.

However, shortly before the race it was revealed that Markus Niemelä had been withdrawn from the race after the BCN Competición was found to have dislocated his shoulder during the Feature Race.

Carroll Crusade
The picture in the Drivers' Championship had been somewhat muddied after the first race at the Hungaroring, with Timo Glock having failed to capitalise on pole position. As a result, his lead had been cut in half by Lucas di Grassi, who moved to within four points of the German racer, with those two now out on their own at the head of the field. Indeed, Luca Filippi had slipped twenty off the lead after his own accident, and was therefore left to look over his shoulder at the rapidly approaching Kazuki Nakajima after the Japanese racer claimed his fifth straight podium.

iSport International had managed to enhance their lead in the Teams' Championship once again, having moved their tally onto 81 points for the campaign. That left them 23 points ahead of ART Grand Prix in second, who had themselves eased ten clear of Super Nova Racing in third. Behind it was DAMS who had made the biggest, and only, jump, rising to fourth from sixth, while Carlin DPR and BCN Competición had once again failed to threaten the points.

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:


 * * Bakkerud was unable to start the race after sustaining a recurring injury ahead of the race.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

 * Third and final career victory for Javier Villa.
 * Racing Engineering secured their fifth win as an entrant.
 * Maiden podium finish for Roldán Rodríguez.

Standings
There had been a marked change to the Championship standings as the GP2 Series left Hungary, for Championship leader Timo Glock had seen his lead all but eroded away completely after another double non-score, barring his points for pole. Indeed, Lucas di Grassi had moved to within one point of the German racer, and felt he could have pushed for more in the Hungaroring Sprint after their on-track fight was cut short by Glock's woes. Furthermore, those two seemed to be in a lonely duel for the title, with Luca Filippi twenty points away in third, two ahead of Kazuki Nakajima.

In the Teams' Championship there had been little change to the overall picture, with iSport International having seen their lead reduced, although not by enough to cause undue concern. Indeed, the British squad would leave with a comfortable twenty point margin over defending Champions ART Grand Prix, who were themselves fourteen clear of Super Nova Racing in third. DAMS and Campos Grand Prix then completed the top five, while it had been another pointless weekend for BCN Competición and Carlin DPR at the foot of the table.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.