2005 Nürburgring Sprint Race

The 2005 Nürburgring Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2005 Nürburgring GP2 Series Race 2, was the seventh round of the 2005 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany on 29 May 2005. The race, held in support of the XLIX Allianz Grand Prix of Europe, would see Clivio Piccione claim his maiden and only GP2 victory.

The Monegasque racer would start the Sprint Race on the front row, although it was Gianmaria Bruni who started on pole after finishing eighth in the Feature Race. At the start, however, it looked as if Piccione would not challenge for victory, as a poor start saw him slip behind Nelson Piquet Jr. and Neel Jani to fourth.

Bruni duly established a small lead on the opening tour, after a challenge from Piquet saw the Brazilian run wide and slip behind Jani. Elsewhere, Ernesto Viso and Mathias Lauda bounced off each other and out of the race, before José María López slammed into the back of Nicolas Lapierre at the start of lap two, with the Frenchman also taking Heikki Kovalainen and Alexandre Prémat out as well.

Remarkably the officials opted against deploying the Safety Car, meaning Bruni was able to build up a lead, while Jani frantically defended second. Indeed, the Swiss racer was working so hard to keep Piquet at bay that a queue of cars containing the rest of the top seven was stuck behind the #18 Racing Engineering.

However, the race was to be turned on its head just after half-distance, as Bruni pulled into the pits with a puncture, handing the lead to Jani. That prompted more defending from the Swiss racer and more fighting in the train, while Piccione trying a lunge on Piquet, only to be physically bumped wide and slip behind Nico Rosberg.

Indeed, Rosberg was the man to watch in those laps, with the German racer duly elbowing his way past Piquet, with Piccione following him through, before lunging past Jani at the chicane a lap later. However, Jani was able to retaliate as Piquet ran wide, only for Piccione to sweep past the pair of them on the run to final corner to claim the lead.

With that the Monegasque racer was away, establishing a comfortable lead as Jani and Rosberg scrambled back onto the circuit. Indeed, both Adam Carroll and Piquet would pass the duo as they fought, before Jani's pace collapsed late on due to tyre wear in the closing stages.

With that the race was run, with Piccione running unopposed through the final laps to claim victory, almost six seconds clear of Carroll in third. Piquet then completed the podium ahead of Rosberg, while Sergio Hernández and Ferdinando Monfardini claimed the remaining points after quiet runs up the field.

Background
There were no changes to the Nürburgring GP-Strecke ahead of the FIA GP2 Series Sprint Race on Sunday morning, although there would be a change to the rules grid. Indeed, the length of the Sprint had been extended to 120 km and/or 45 minutes after a change to the timetable at the European Grand Prix, with the F1 qualifying schedule condensed into a single session. There would not, however, be a compulsory pitstop due to the extended race length, with drivers expected to complete the extended distance on a single set of Bridgestone tyres.

Feature Fallout
In terms of the entry for the Nürburgring Sprint there had been a change after the officials decided to exclude Borja García from starting the race. The officials had ruled that the Spaniard had been fully to blame for the five-car accident at the start of the Feature Race, and hence denied him the chance to compete in the Sprint. That reduced the field to 23 cars, although it had no further affects on the grid, with Gianmaria Bruni set to start from pole as expected.

Nürburg Nourishment
Victory for Heikki Kovalainen in the Feature Race had left the Finn in charge of the Championship hunt after six races, as it enhanced his lead to a significant eleven point margin. That meant that neither Gianmaria Bruni nor Scott Speed could mathematically get ahead of the Finn in the Sprint Race, with those two ending Saturday level on 27 points. Adam Carroll was next up ahead of Nico Rosberg to complete the top five, while Giorgio Pantano had leapt from last to the top ten after his first points of the campaign.

In the Teams' Championship Arden International would head into Sunday's running at the Nürburgring with a fairly comfortable margin, having claimed their 42nd point of the campaign. That left them nine clear of second placed Super Nova Racing, who had moved up from fourth, while Coloni Motorsport had dropped to third on 31. ART Grand Prix and iSport International then completed the top five, while Durango were off the foot of the table and up to tenth after claiming their first points of the campaign.

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:


 * * Yoshimoto was unable to start the race due to an engine failure on the way to the grid.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * Jani was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * Maiden (and only) victory for Clivio Piccione.
 * Also Piccione's first podium finish.
 * This would also be the only victory for a Monegasque racer until Stefano Coletti won the 2011 Istanbul Sprint Race.
 * First win for Durango as an entrant.
 * Also their maiden podium finish.
 * Maiden points finish for Ferdinando Monfardini.

Standings
Heikki Kovalainen rounded out the trip to the Nürburgring with a fair margin atop the Championship, and would leave the Eifel Mountains with a nine point lead. Scott Speed had claimed two fastest laps on the trot to move up to second, while Adam Carroll had moved into third as his inconsistent campaign continued. The unfortunate Gianmaria Bruni was next up in fourth ahead of Nico Rosberg, with twenty of the 24 drivers having scored.

Arden International had the lead in the Teams' Championship leaving the Nürburgring, although their advantage was not as comfortable as their lead driver's. Indeed, the British squad had just four points in hand over second placed compatriots Super Nova Racing, while ART Grand Prix were only five further behind in third. iSport International were next up in fourth ahead of Coloni Motorsport, while Durango had continued their march up the order to claim ninth.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.