2007 Barcelona Sprint Race

The 2007 Barcelona GP2 Series Race 2, otherwise known as the 2007 Barcelona Sprint Race, was the fourth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Catalonia, Spain on 13 May 2007. The race would see Timo Glock claim his first win of the campaign, leaving him in a commanding position at the head of the Championship.

The grid for the Barcelona Sprint had been set via the finishing positions of the Feature Race, with Javier Villa set to start from pole due to the reverse-grid rule. Feature winner Bruno Senna would hence start from eighth, while Glock would start from seventh hoping to score his fourth straight podium.

For the second race in a row there would be a myriad of issues at the start, with Nicolas Lapierre suffering an engine failure and causing the first attempted start to be abandoned, before Borja García and Pastor Maldonado stalled to cause the second to be abandoned. That, however, would not upset pole sitter Villa, who aced his getaway at the third attempted start to secure the lead, while teammate Sérgio Jimenez, who started alongside him, tumbled back down the field.

Lucas di Grassi and Bruno Senna both took full advantage of the compatriot's struggles, leaping into second and third, with Mikhail Aleshin getting baulked by the #15 Racing Engineering entry. Behind, Mike Conway misjudged a lunge on Roldán Rodríguez leaving the Spaniard on the sidelines with damage, with Adrian Zaugg and Kohei Hirate having to go into the gravel to avoid.

Indeed, there would be a very high attrition rate in the early laps, with the non-starters Lapierre and Alexandre Negrão soon joined by Rodríguez, Jason Tahincioğlu and Andy Soucek before the end of the opening tour. Several other drivers were left with damage to their cars, while Christian Bakkerud was running with a trapped nerve in his back due to an injury he sustained on Saturday.

All of that had allowed Glock to move up, and quick fire moves on Senna and di Grassi would leave the German racer in second. Glock duly hunted down Villa in the space of two laps after passing di Grassi, before scything past the Spaniard at the start of lap eight to secure the lead.

With that Glock was away, setting a succession of fastest laps as he broke clear at the head of the field. Behind, Villa was left in a three-way scrap with di Grassi and Senna for second, while Jimenez found himself fighting a rear guard action for fifth ahead of a charging Pantano after Bakkerud began to slip down the field due to the pain in his back.

Those fights would last to the chequered flag, as Glock swept across the line to secure his first win of the campaign with fastest lap. Villa, meanwhile, just held on to claim his maiden podium in second, while di Grassi just kept his nose ahead of Senna across the line to claim third. There was a similar sprint finish between Jimenez and Pantano for fifth, a duel won by the Brazilian, with Kazuki Nakajima finishing just behind them and out of the points in seventh.

Background
There were no changes made to the revised Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya overnight after the Feature Race, although there would be a change to the entry list for the Sprint Race. Alexandre Negrão had been forced to withdraw from the racer after his Minardi Piquet was found to be too heavily damaged after his accident in the Feature, reducing the field to 25 for the Sprint. That, however, would have no impact on the order at the head of the field, with Javier Villa set to start from pole position as expected.

Consistent Climbers
Pole position and second place for Timo Glock in the Barcelona Feature had ensured that the German youth moved to the top of the table after the third race of the campaign, having moved onto 24 points for the season. Luca Filippi hence slipped to second, six off the lead he had lost, while race winner Bruno Senna had leapt into third after his maiden victory. Lucas di Grassi and Nicolas Lapierre then completed the top five, while Roldán Rodríguez, Mikhail Aleshin, Sérgio Jimenez and Javier Villa had added their names to the board.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International had extended their early advantage at the head of the table, twelve points clear of Super Nova Racing. The latter squad were themselves only ahead of third placed Arden International on countback, both having claimed one win, while ART Grand Prix had moved up to fourth. DAMS then completed the top five ahead of Durango, while Minardi Piquet and Racing Engineering completed the 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:


 * * García and Maldonado were forced to start the race from the pitlane after stalling at the second attempted start.
 * † Lapierre was unable to start the race after suffering an engine failure at the first attempted start.
 * ‡ Negrão was unable to start the race due to having sustained too much damage in the 2007 Barcelona Feature Race.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

 * Third career victory for Timo Glock.
 * iSport International scored their fifth victory as an entrant.
 * Maiden podium finish for Javier Villa.

Standings
Victory and fastest lap meant that Timo Glock established an impressive early lead in the Championship, thirteen clear of his closest challenger. Bruno Senna left Barcelona as his closest challenger in second while Luca Filippi, who had started the weekend in the lead of the Championship, slipped fifteen of the lead in third. Lucas di Grassi was next up in fourth ahead of Nicolas Lapierre, while Giorgio Pantano had become the fifteenth scorer of the campaign in fifteenth.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International had moved fourteen points clear at the head of the field, leaving them in early command of the standings. Arden International were sat in second, having climbed above Super Nova Racing who had slipped nineteen off the lead in third. Behind, ART Grand Prix and DAMS completed the top five, while Campos Grand Prix had added their name to the scoresheet in ninth.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.