2005 Istanbul Feature Race

The 2005 Istanbul Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2005 Istanbul GP2 Series Race 1, was the sixteenth race of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at Istanbul Park near Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey on 20 August 2005. The race, staged in support of the I Türkiye Grand Prix'si, would see Alexandre Prémat claim victory in what was the first FIA sanctioned international race to be held at the new circuit.

Qualifying had seen Prémat's ART Grand Prix teammate Nico Rosberg sweep to pole position, a tenth clear of Scott Speed. José María López and Giorgio Pantano would then share the second row, while Nelson Piquet Jr. and Prémat shared the third.

When the lights went out Rosberg and Speed made average starts, and hence came under instant attack from López, who had aced his getaway from third. However, the short sprint to the first corner would allow Rosberg to cut to the inside line and cover any potential lunge, only for Speed to smack the back of the #9 ART and break his own nose.

Speed would, however, remain glued to Rosberg's tail over the rest of the opening tour, while López came under attack from Pantano for third. Indeed, there would be a lot of early fighting on the opening tour, with Prémat and Piquet joined by Adam Carroll and Gianmaria Bruni in a brawl for fifth, while Mathias Lauda and Alexandre Negrão clashed at the back.

However, all early fights were halted when Neel Jani sent himself pirouetting into the pitwall at the end of the opening tour, triggering a three lap Safety Car intervention. That also triggered the majority of the field, including the lead group, to make their stops as the #18 Racing Engineering car was swept away, with Rosberg still holding the lead ahead of Speed and López after their stops.

Those three quickly escaped in the laps after the restart, with Prémat, Pantano and Piquet all getting caught behind Lauda, who had not stopped. Prémat was the first to break clear on lap five and soon began closing on López, who had been dropped by Rosberg and Speed as those two exchanged fastest laps.

However, the complexion of the race would quickly change, with Rosberg suddenly slowing in front of Speed, forcing the American racer to make a deceptive jink to avoid him. Speed then spun out of the lead on his own at the final corner, allowing López to catch right onto his tail, before Bruni took himself and Nicolas Lapierre out on lap sixteen to trigger another SC.

This time only Speed and López would pit, rejoining in seventh and eighth, handing the lead to Prémat who powered away when the race resumed on lap nineteen. Indeed, the Frenchman was not to be troubled for the rest of the race, despite some late harrying from Pantano, while behind Speed and López burned through the best of their fresher tyres fighting to get back up the order.

After resisting a late lunge from Pantano on the final tour, Prémat swept across the line to claim his second win in a row, with the frustrated Italian racer in second. Borja García was next up to claim his maiden podium ahead of Piquet, while Speed claimed fastest lap as he secured fifth ahead of López. Carroll trailed them across the line for seventh, while the final point and reverse-grid pole for 2005 Istanbul Sprint Race went to Hiroki Yoshimoto.

Background
After a three week break the FIA GP2 Series of 2005 reconvened at the new Istanbul Park circuit near Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey for its ninth round of the campaign, again supporting the Formula One World Championship. Furthermore, the GP2 Series would create history as the first FIA sanctioned race series to complete a race on the new circuit when the Feature Race was held on Saturday afternoon, with all 24 drivers praising the circuit after their track walks. Furthermore, there would be no changes to the entry list, despite news that Giorgio Pantano had signed a deal to complete the IndyCar Series in the United States.

Piquet Proclamaition
Ahead of the Turkish round it was announced that the partnership between Hitech Grand Prix and Piquet GP had been curtailed with immediate effect, leaving Piquet Sports, the owners of Piquet GP, as the sole entity controlling the team. The news came after a major rift was reported between the Piquet GP and Hitech staff over how the team should have been run, with David Hayle, team principle, leaving the GP2 team shortly before Hitech fully withdrew. Antonio Vargas would take over as team principle following the Hitech withdrawal, although the team would still compete as Hitech/Piquet Racing until the end of the season.

Hungaroring Hijinks
Status quo had been maintained atop the Championship as the 2005 GP2 Series headed off to its summer break, with Heikki Kovalainen holding a seven point lead. His closest challenger and main rival for the title would be Nico Rosberg when the season resumed, with third placed Scott Speed having slipped 22 points behind the German racer. Alexandre Prémat was next up in fourth after his maiden win, overhauling the 2005 Hungaroring Feature Race winner Neel Jani.

In the Teams' Championship it was ART Grand Prix who would head into the summer break at the head of the hunt, the French squad having become the only team to break the 100 point barrier before the summer. Indeed, Arden International, former leaders, had slipped 23 points off the lead in second, while Super Nova Racing were 53 points off the lead in third. iSport International were next up ahead of Racing Engineering, while Campos Racing were at the foot of the table on three points.

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

Qualifying
Qualifying for the inaugural GP2 Series race would be staged via a thirty minute session on Friday afternoon, ahead of the Feature Race on Saturday. All 24 drivers would venture onto the circuit during the session, and were allowed to complete as many laps as they could to set their qualifying time. There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of Bridgestone tyres.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:

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

 * Second victory for Alexandre Prémat.
 * ART Grand Prix claimed their fifth win as an entrant.
 * Borja García claimed his maiden podium finish.

Standings
Heikki Kovalainen had seen his lead reduced after the first battle of Istanbul, although the Finn still held a five point margin. Indeed, Nico Rosberg had only been able to chip away at Kovalainen's advantage after his mechanical issue, otherwise he had been set to overhaul the Finn's tally. Behind, Scott Speed had maintained his status as the dark horse ahead of Alexandre Prémat, both still over twenty points behind, while Neel Jani completed the top five.

In the Teams' Championship it was ART Grand Prix who once again extended their advantage, having moved onto 127 points for the season. They hence increased their lead over Arden International to 35 points midway through the Istanbul meeting, while Super Nova Racing had inched closer to their compatriots in third. Otherwise there had been no major changes to the overall order in the Teams' Championship, although BCN Competición had moved back ahead of Durango in their fight for tenth.