2006 Valencia Sprint Race

The 2006 Valencia Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2006 València GP2 Series Race 2, was the second race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, Valencian Community, Spain, on 9 April 2006. The race, which would be the last standalone event for GP2 until the 2007 Valencia Feature Race, would see Michael Ammermüller claim his maiden GP2 victory in only his second race.

Ernesto Viso would start the race from pole position after finishing the Feature Race in eighth place. However, the Venezuelan racer would be unable to convert pole into the lead at the start, with Ammermüller blasting past Viso to claim the initiative.

As Ammermüller set about building a lead, Nicolas Lapierre would storm through to third, taking Feature winner Nelson Piquet Jr. up with him. Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, would fall to ninth after a poor start, although he soon manage to vault back ahead of José María López.

Hamilton would also overhaul Adam Carroll and Adrián Vallés in the early stages as, out front, Ammermüller established a fair margin. Indeed, the field would quickly space out at the head of the field, with Viso running in a lonely second ahead of Lapierre and Piquet, while Gianmaria Bruni had enough in hand to fend off Hamilton.

Instead, the mid-race attention was focused on the fight for seventh, with Carroll and José María López looking for a way past Vallés. That, however, would end in spectacular fashion, with Carroll slamming into the back of Vallés after getting caught out on the brakes, resulting in the Ulsterman being sent into a series of barrel rolls before crashing down in the gravel. Fortunately Carroll would escape unharmed, although himself, Vallés and López were out of the race, the Argentine having hit debris from the Spaniard's car.

After that there would be little action of note, with Ammermüller dominating the race to claim victory by almost ten seconds from Viso. Lapierre then completed the podium ahead of Piquet, who collected a bonus point for fastest lap, while Bruni and Hamilton rounded out the scorers.

Background
There would be no revisions made to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo ahead of the Sprint Race, with the GP2 Series once again serving as the headline act on Sunday. Likewise, there were no changes to the entry list for the Sprint, with Ernesto Viso set to start from pole position after claiming eighth in the Feature Race.

Opening Optimism
Nelson Piquet Jr. had opened the season as the lead driver in the Championship, having claimed twelve points for pole and victory in the Feature. Lewis Hamilton was next up ahead of Adrián Vallés, while the bonus point for fastest lap left Nicolas Lapierre level with the Spaniard on six. José María López, Gianmaria Bruni, Michael Ammermüller and Ernesto Viso were the only other scorers.

Piquet Sports would end the opening day in the lead of the Teams' Championship, having established a four point lead over ART Grand Prix. Arden International, Campos Racing and Super Nova Racing then completed the top five, while Trident Racing and iSport International were the only 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:


 * * Hernández was unable to start the race due to a clutch failure before the race.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * The race was originally scheduled for 30 laps (120.150 km) but was reduced to 28 laps after two abandoned starts.
 * † Zuber set the fastest lap in the race (1:21.244) but was ineligible to claim the bonus point as he started from the pitlane.

Milestones

 * Debut race for Jason Tahincioglu.
 * Maiden victory for Michael Ammermüller.
 * Arden International claimed their sixth victory as an entrant.

Standings
Fourth in the Valencia Sprint was enough to ensure that Nelson Piquet Jr. ended the opening weekend of the season atop the Championship, the Brazilian racer leaving Spain on sixteen points. Nicolas Lapierre, meanwhile, had risen to second ahead of Lewis Hamilton, six and seven points respectively off the lead, while Michael Ammermüller and Ernesto Viso completed the top five. Adrián Vallés, Gianmaria Bruni and José María López were the only other scorers after the opening two races.

In the Teams' Championship it was Arden International who rounded out the opening weekend in the lead, having claimed eighteen points in the opening two races. That left them two ahead of Piquet Sports, while ART Grand Prix were in third on nine. iSport International, Campos Racing, Trident Racing and Super Nova Racing were the other opening weekend scorers.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.