2007 Magny-Cours Feature Race

The 2007 Magny-Cours Feature Race, officially known as the 2007 Magny-Cours GP2 Series Race 1, was the sixth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France on 30 June 2007. The race would see Giorgio Pantano sweep to victory, in a race that was overshadowed by a nasty accident for Ernesto Viso that triggered a red flag.

Qualifying had seen Championship leader Timo Glock sweep to pole position, a tenth ahead of iSport International teammate Andreas Zuber. Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi would then share the second row, while Pantano was to start from fifth ahead of Roldán Rodríguez.

The start of the race would see some chaos, with Glock and Zuber contriving to drive straight into each other as they stormed off the grid. Glock was left facing the pitwall after flying up on the top of Zuber, with the rest of the field sweeping past the incident without issue.

Senna, Kohei Hirate and Karun Chandhok were hence left fighting for the lead, although it was further around the opening lap that Viso had his accident. The Venezuelan racer was fighting with Michael Ammermüller through the turn six sweep when the two made contact, with Viso's car subsequently sent into a flip and then barrel roll along the top of a concrete wall.

After two laps behind the Safety Car the race was stopped by a red flag, with Viso later revealed to have escaped with concussion but no major injuries. After an hour's delay the race would resume behind the SC, with Hirate briefly leading before being slapped with a drive-through penalty for a jump start.

That, combined with Chandhok firing himself into the gravel a few moments later and Senna sliding wide, would leave Pantano at the head of the field, with the Italian racer duly establishing a healthy lead. Behind, Senna, di Grassi and Luca Filippi engaged themselves in an intense fight, all knowing they had to take advantage of the fact that Glock was going to fail to score.

Senna would then drop down shortly before the stops, Pastor Maldonado passing with ease, while Filippi damaged his car by smacking the back of his teammate Mike Conway while fighting with di Grassi. That left di Grassi on his own in second during the second stint of the race, with the Brazilian simply unable to close onto the tail of Pantano out front.

Indeed, when the chequered flag fluttered Pantano had an eight second advantage over di Grassi, while the Brazilian himself was fourteen seconds clear of third. The final podium spot would go to Senna after a last-lap lunge on Filippi, while Vitaly Petrov won a truel with Adrian Zaugg and Javier Villa to claim fifth. Maldonado, meanwhile, was on for eighth until he spun late on, allowing Nicolas Lapierre to claim the final point and reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race.

Background
A month after the previous round in Monte Carlo the 2007 FIA GP2 Series arrived at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for its fourth round of the season, supporting the 2007 French Grand Prix. The Magny-Cours circuit itself remained unchanged, while the GP2 field had kept itself entertained with an in-season test at the Circuit Paul Ricard. The fastest man in that collective test proved to be Andreas Zuber, with the Emirate registered racer edging out iSport International teammate Timo Glock.

Ammermüller About
Ahead of the fourth round there would be a series of driver changes at three teams, beginning with the return of Michael Ammermüller to ART Grand Prix after his wrist injury. The German youth rejoined the French squad after being replaced by Mikhail Aleshin at Barcelona and Monaco respectively, having fractured his wrist at the opening round in Bahrain. The German racer had passed a fitness test ahead of the Paul Ricard Test, and would hence return to partner Lucas di Grassi in Magny-Cours.

Pizzonia's Price
Elsewhere, reports of a fall out between Antônio Pizzonia and FMS International had bounced around the paddock since the race in Monte Carlo, in-spite of the fact that the Brazilian had scored his first point. Those rumours were ultimately proved true as Pizzonia left the team ahead of the Paul Ricard Test, with Ernesto Viso replacing the Brazilian at the test. However, the Venezuelan was not chosen to take over Pizzonia's race seat, with Adam Carroll instead returning to take over the #9 car for the rest of the campaign.

The Ulsterman planned to twin his unexpected GP2 campaign with his run in the DTM, although with several clashes it was unclear if Carroll could commit to both series.

Viso Vision
Despite being overlooked for the FMS seat, Viso would manage to secure his own return to GP2 ahead of the race in Magny-Cours, after a seat became available at Racing Engineering. Indeed, the Spanish squad had opted to part ways with Sérgio Jimenez after becoming aware of Viso's availability, in-spite of the Brazilian racer having claimed two points finishes in his first five GP2 races. Regardless, Racing Engineering hoped that Viso would use his experience to aid Javier Villa's bid to try and challenge for the title.

Dallara Designs
Elsewhere, Dallara unveiled their new car for the GP2 Series in 2008, which would again be heavily based on the current specification of Formula One cars, albeit with a far simple aerodynamic design. The new car, dubbed the GP2/08, would have a new chassis design, heavily sculpted bodywork, repositioned radiators and larger bargeboards. The rear wing would also be redesigned, albeit heavily based on the latest evolution of the GP2/05, while also retaining the same V8 engine developed by Mecachrome and badged by Renault that the GP2 Series had used since its inception.

2006 GP2 Series runner-up Nelson Piquet Jr. would be the first driver to drive the GP2/08, completing 60 laps at the Circuit Paul Ricard on behalf of Dallara.

Partner Promises
After unveiling the new-for-2008 GP2 car, the GP2 Series bosses announced that technical partners Bridgestone and Renault had renewed their deals with the Series through to the end of the 2010 season. The renewed deals would hence see Bridgestone remain as the Series' sole tyre suppliers, with the Japanese brand also getting to place it's logos on all 26 cars. Likewise, Renault would continue to rebadge the Series' Mecachrome V8 engines, while also declaring the GP2 was part of their wider 'Renault Pyramid' from national Formula Renault to Formula One.

Monegasque Marvel
Timo Glock had retained command of the Championship as GP2's trip to the Mediterranean coast came to a conclusion, the German racer having moved onto 37 points for the campaign. Luca Filippi, meanwhile, had moved back up to second, but remained sixteen off the lead, while Bruno Senna had just remained ahead of Lucas di Grassi on count-back. Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, had rocketed up to fifth after his maiden triumph, with twenty drivers on the scoresheet after the trip to Monte Carlo.

In the Teams' Championship it was iSport International who led the charge leaving Monaco, having claimed their 43rd point of the fledgling season. Super Nova Racing were up to second, level on points with ART Grand Prix but ahead on countback, both twenty points off the leaders. Behind Arden International were two points further back in fifth, while BCN Competición and DPR remained as the only scorers.

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:
 * * Soucek served a ten place grid penalty for causing a collision at the 2007 Monaco Feature 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.
 * * Carroll was disqualified from the race.

Milestones

 * 50th FIA GP2 Series race to be staged.
 * First race for Adam Carroll and Ernesto Viso since the 2006 Monza Sprint Race.
 * Giorgio Pantano claimed his fourth victory.
 * Campos Grand Prix claimed their maiden win as an entrant.

Standings
Timo Glock would end Saturday's running at Magny-Cours with his early Championship lead intact, although his advantage had been cut to thirteen points after his embarrassing early exit. Luca Filippi had hence managed to inch closer in second, while Lucas di Grassi had moved level with the Italian racer, but remained behind on countback. Bruno Senna was next up after losing third to di Grassi, while Giorgio Pantano was up to fifth after his victory.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International still held the lead, with Glock's points for pole position their only solace after Glock and Andreas Zuber took each other out at the start. ART Grand Prix were up to second, fourteen off the lead, while Arden International had claimed third a point behind ART. Super Nova Racing and Campos Racing then completed the top five, while BCN Competición and Carlin DPR remained as the only non-scorers.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.