2005 Spa Sprint Race

The 2005 Spa Sprint Race, formally known as the 2005 Spa GP2 Series Race 2, was the twenty-first race of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps near Stavelot, Liège, Belgium, on 11 September 2005. The race, which was held in support of the LXII Foster's Grand Prix de Belgique, would see Adam Carroll claim victory, in a race that was ended early by a huge collision.

Carroll would start the race from pole position after claiming eighth in the Feature Race, and would share the front row with Alexandre Negrão. They would, however, have to wait to lead the field away, after a heavy accident in a Mini Cooper race severely damaged several sections of barrier which needed to be replaced, delaying the start by an hour.

Furthermore, when the race did get underway it would be behind the Safety Car, for heavy rain was pounding the Spa circuit as the field left the grid. Fortunately there would only be one lap behind the SC before race fully got underway, with Carroll sprinting into an early lead, while Negrão was instantly passed by Borja García.

Ernesto Viso was also on the move, taking Nico Rosberg and Scott Speed in the early stages, before following Juan Cruz Álvarez past Negrão. The Venezuelan racer then blasted past the Argentine to secure third, as behind Neel Jani had his first incident of the day, spinning after Alexandre Prémat swept past through Eau Rouge.

Negrão continued to plummet down the field, slipping behind Speed and Rosberg, who duly caught and passed Álvarez, before Viso spun out of third on lap ten through Raidillion, finding the barriers. That kicked off more incidents, with Gianmaria Bruni and Hiroki Yoshimoto coming together at Eau Rouge, with the Japanese racer getting fired into the side of Jani, sending both skating into the barriers at over 100 mph.

Fortunately both Jani and Yoshimoto would escape unharmed, although the sheer amount of debris and wreckage meant that the race had to be stopped. That fact, combined with the earlier delays, meant that the race had to be abandoned and half-points awarded, with the final classification based on the order at the end of lap nine.

Carroll was hence classified as the winner ahead of García, while Viso was reinstated in third after a post-race protest from his team after he was initially struck from the results. Speed was hence left in fourth ahead of Rosberg, while Álvarez claimed the final half-point in sixth.

Background
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps would remain unchanged ahead of the Sprint Race, although the weather would be rather more turbulent on Sunday morning, with heavy rain pounding the circuit. Otherwise, there had been no change to the entry list, with Adam Carroll set to start the race from pole, while Nelson Piquet Jr. would start from eighteenth after being handed a ten place grid penalty for colliding with Alexandre Prémat in the Feature Race.

Kovalainen Supplanted
For the first time in 2005 someone other than Heikki Kovalainen would head the Championship, as Nico Rosberg rose to the fore. Indeed, the German youth had established a two point lead after a six point swing in the Spa Feature, with those two the only pretenders for the title. Indeed, Scott Speed had dropped 37 points behind, with a maximum of 36 points left to fight for over the final three races.

In the Teams' Championship ART Grand Prix had inched closer to the title, having established a 37 point lead with three races to go. Indeed, they could claim the crown in the Spa Sprint, if Arden International failed to outscore them by two points or more in the Sprint. Behind, iSport International would be left to entertain hopes of overhauling Arden for second, while there were no changes elsewhere to the overall order.

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.
 * * The race was originally set to cover 18 laps (125.568 km) but the results were based off of the classification at the end of lap nine.
 * † Half-points were awarded for the race as the field failed to cover 75% of the original race distance.
 * ‡ Viso was reinstated to third position after the race having originally been classified at the back of the field after his accident.

Milestones

 * ART Grand Prix declared as the 2005 FIA GP2 Series for Teams' Champions.
 * Fourth and final race for Toni Vilander.
 * Third win for Adam Carroll.
 * Also Carroll's fifth podium finish.
 * Super Nova Racing claimed their third victory as an entrant.
 * Second and final podium finish for Borja García.
 * Second and final points finish for Juan Cruz Álvarez.

Standings
The half-points awarded for the Spa Sprint may have had a crucial role in the Championship fight ahead of the finale, for freshly promoted leader Nico Rosberg had only added a single point to his slim lead. Indeed, the German youth would arrive in Bahrain with a three point lead over Heikki Kovalainen, as they headed to Sakhir as the only title pretenders. Indeed, Scott Speed was too far behind in third on 65.5, with a thirteen point gap over Adam Carroll and Alexandre Prémat in the fight to complete the top three.

In the Teams' Championship the title fight was over, for ART Grand Prix had claimed the crown with a race weekend to spare, ending the Spa visit on 155 points. That meant they held a 38 point lead over Arden International, with only 35 points left to fight for in Bahrain, leaving the British squad in a fight for second rather than for the crown. However, Arden did have a healthy margin over compatriots Super Nova Racing heading to the finale, with 21 points separating the entries.