2005 Imola Sprint Race

The 2005 Imola Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2005 Imola Race 2, was the second round of the inaugural 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on 24 April 2005. The race, held in support of the XXV Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino, would see Adam Carroll claim his maiden GP2 victory, in a race dominated by mechanical strife.

Nico Rosberg would start the race from pole position, as GP2 Series rules meant that the results of the Feature Race were used to set the grid for the Sprint, with the top eight reversed. The German youth duly sprinted off the line at the start of the race to claim an early lead ahead of teammate Alexandre Prémat, while behind Neel Jani fended off a challenge from Carroll to secure third.

Indeed, there would be no stopping the two ARTs in the early stages, with Rosberg sprinting away with Prémat on his tail. Instead, Jani would have to put up a ferocious defence to keep Carroll at bay, resulting in the rest of the top ten queuing up behind the struggling #18 Racing Engineering entry.

Indeed, it was only after selling Jani a dummy on lap four that Carroll finally broke clear, before he swiftly hunted down Prémat. The Ulsterman duly made his first bid for second on the run to Traguardo, although the Frenchman blocked the move without too much concern.

A few moments later and they were suddenly on the back of Rosberg, whose pace had collapsed amid a worsening brake problem, the ultimately saw him surrender the lead a few laps later after running wide at Rivazza. With that Prémat and Carroll were away as Rosberg limped around for a handful of laps, before retiring late on when the brakes failed completely.

Rosberg's demise meant he joined a huge list of retirements, with the field having started two short of a full compliment after issues for Ernesto Viso and Ferdinando Monfardini on their way to the grid. Clivio Piccione, Scott Speed, Can Artam and Mathias Lauda would also retire in the first four laps, while Nicolas Lapierre set the fastest lap, before being withdrawn due to a myriad of issues on his car.

Into the closing stages and Carroll had thrown lunge after lunge at Prémat for the lead, although every time the #10 ART had moved across and blocked the lunge. However, a mistake exiting Variante Bassa from Prémat would allow Carroll to finally get a run, with the Ulsterman out-braking the Frenchman into Traguardo at the start of the following lap. Prémat subsequently fired off the track and cut back on ahead of the #8 Super Nova, although Carroll would simply dart around the recovering #10 ART to claim the lead.

With that the race was run, with Carroll charging away to claim victory, some five seconds clear of Prémat, who had just held second from Heikki Kovalainen. Gianmaria Bruni was next up despite having a smoke trail following his car throughout the race, while Olivier Pla resisted the advances of Nelson Piquet Jr. to secure fifth.

Background
There were no changes made to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari ahead of the first GP2 Series Sprint Race, with the race distance slashed to c. 80 km and the maximum time cut to 30 minutes for the second race of the weekend. There had, however, been a major technical change, although this change was implemented and completed on race morning, well before the start of the race. Likewise, there would be no revisions to the starting grid, with Nico Rosberg set to start from pole after claiming eighth in the Feature Race.

Breaking Brakes
After a myriad of issues in the Feature Race, the series organisers along with the FIA mandated a change to Brembo brakes, at the behest of the teams overnight. Indeed, the equipment supplied by Carbone Lorraine had been widely cited by engineers as the reason for the many retirements and/or dramatic loss of pace seen in the Feature, prompting a lobby to change the systems. As a result all eleven teams were allowed to work on their cars overnight past curfew to change the systems, with all 22 cars ready to use a mandated Brembo system before the start of the race.

Feature Fortunes
Heikki Kovalainen had ended the opening day of the GP2 Series in the lead of the Championship, having earned ten points for his maiden triumph. José María López was his closest challenger ahead of Scott Speed, while Gianmaria Bruni and Adam Carroll completed the early top five. Neel Jani was next up ahead of Alexandre Prémat, while Ernesto Viso, Nicolas Lapierre and Rosberg had also claimed points.

In the Teams' Championship it was Arden International who headed into the Sprint Race with the lead, having claimed their first win courtesy of Kovalainen. DAMS were their closest challengers, four points behind, while iSport International completed the early top three with six points. Coloni Motorsport, Super Nova Racing, Racing Engineering, ART Grand Prix and BCN Competición were the other scorers.

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:


 * * Viso was unable to start the race due to a brake failure before the race.
 * † Monfardini was unable to start the race after stalling on the formation lap.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Lapierre was withdrawn from the race due to a number of issues with his car.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Adam Carroll.
 * Also Carroll's first GP2 Series podium finish.
 * First victory for Super Nova Racing.
 * Alexandre Prémat claimed his maiden podium finish.
 * Maiden points finish for Olivier Pla and Nelson Piquet Jr.
 * Nicolas Lapierre recorded his first fastest lap.

Standings
Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the opening round of the season with the Championship lead, having been the only driver to claim two podium finishes. Adam Carroll, meanwhile, had shot up to second with his maiden triumph, while José María López occupied third, level on points with Gianmaria Bruni. Alexandre Prémat then completed the top five, with Nicolas Lapierre a notable seventh despite failing to finish either race at Imola.

In the Teams' Championship it was Arden International who would arrive in Barcelona at the head of the hunt, having claimed eighteen points on the opening weekend. Super Nova Racing were their closest challengers in second, eight behind, while ART Grand Prix were ten off the lead in third. The French squad themselves were level on points with DAMS and Coloni Motorsport, who completed the top five, with everyone bar Campos Racing and Durango having scored points during the first race weekend.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.