2007 Spa Sprint Race

The 2007 Spa GP2 Series Race 2, otherwise known as the 2007 Spa Sprint Race, was the nineteenth race of the 2007 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Liège, Belgium, on 16 September 2007. The race would see Karun Chandhok claim a shock maiden victory, as Lucas di Grassi cut his points deficit to Championship leader Timo Glock to just two points with one round to go.

The Indian racer would benefit from the reverse-grid rule, which elevated him to second behind Ho-Pin Tung after they finished seventh and eighth respectively in the Feature Race. In contrast Feature winner Nicolas Lapierre would start from eighth, di Grassi from sixth, while Glock was to occupy seventeenth after his Saturday woes.

Glock's misfortune would continue on into Sunday, with the German racer not even getting to the grid after a collision with Ricardo Risatti. Indeed, the pair were on their way to join the grid when the Argentine racer lost control, before spearing into the side of the #5 iSport to send Glock slamming into the barriers.

The start of the race would see Tung make a sluggish getaway, before a lock-up into La Source ended his hopes of victory as Chandhok swept past. Chandhok, however, would be passed himself by a fast starting Andy Soucek, while di Grassi also swept past the #19 BCN Competición as Tung rejoined the circuit.

Javier Villa would also pass Tung down the hill to Eau Rouge, while Lapierre was an instant non-factor when he stalled on the grid. Fortunately for the Frenchman he was avoided by the pack and was restarted from the safety of the pitlane, although he was left trailing the rest of the field by almost a full lap.

Soucek and Chandhok would set a furious early pace, with even title pretender di Grassi unable to challenge them, seemingly settling for third early on. Indeed, Soucek was pushing for all his worth in a bid to break Chandhok, although his gap would grow to no more than 1.5 seconds before the Indian racer drew him back in.

Once Soucek was in his sights Chandhok was surprisingly ruthless, dancing the #27 Durango around the outside of the #21 Carlin DPR through Les Combes on lap eleven. That settled the race, with Chandhok easing away from Soucek, who was left with a solid advantage over di Grassi.

Indeed, a few laps later the chequered flag was thrown and the race completed, with Chandhok claiming his maiden victory by 1.5 seconds over Soucek. di Grassi was third ahead of Tung, and hence made as much as he could of Glock's non-score, while Mike Conway and Adam Carroll rounded out the scorers in fifth and sixth.

Background
There were no changes made to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the second FIA GP2 Series race of the weekend, with the GP2 field likewise unchanged. That meant that Ho-Pin Tung would start from pole position as a result of the reverse-grid rule, with Feature Race winner Nicolas Lapierre was to start from eighth.

Stalling Standards
Lucas di Grassi had managed to cut Timo Glock's Championship lead to six points ahead of the Spa Sprint, meaning the Brazilian racer would at least head to the finale in Valencia with a shot at the title. Furthermore, victory in the Spa Sprint combined with a non-score for Glock would leave di Grassi at the head of the hunt before the trip to Spain, with the Brazilian realistically the only man able to deny Glock the crown. Indeed, third placed Luca Filippi faced a 21 point deficit with three races to go, with a maximum of 27 points available in those three races.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International had maintained their advantage at the head of the field, although their lead had been cut back to 26 points. That meant that ART Grand Prix would remain a threat for the title ahead of the finale in Valencia, unless iSport managed to out-score them by eight points in the Spa Sprint race. Elsewhere, Super Nova Racing were still mathematically in the hunt but would require a lot of luck to claim the crown, while at the back of the field Carlin DPR and BCN Competición had finally got onto the scoresheet.

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:


 * * Glock was unable to start the race after sustaining heavy damage before the start due to a collision with Risatti.

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

Milestones

 * Final race for Adrian Zaugg until the 2010 Barcelona Feature Race.
 * Ricardo Risatti made his sixth and final FIA GP2 Series start.
 * Karun Chandhok claimed his maiden victory.
 * Durango claimed their second win as an entrant.
 * Also their first win since the 2005 Nürburgring Sprint Race.
 * Maiden podium finish for Andy Soucek.
 * DPR claimed their first podium finish since the 2006 Monza Sprint Race.
 * Fourth and final fastest lap recorded by Nicolas Lapierre.

Standings
Another poor weekend for Timo Glock had seen the German racer's Championship lead all but disappear with one round to go, with just one point in Spa leaving Glock with a two point lead. Indeed, Lucas di Grassi had ensured that he was a major pretender ahead of the finale, with those two now the only drivers who could take the title. However, Glock could still claim the crown during the 2007 Valencia Feature Race if he out-scored di Grassi by six points, while di Grassi could claim the title before the final race if he out-scored Glock by nine.

In the Teams' Championship iSport International would head into the finale with a sizeable advantage, with the British squad holding a 22 point lead leaving Spa. Indeed, ART Grand Prix would still have a hope of retaining their title, but would have to score at least ten points more than iSport in the Valencia Feature to keep their title hopes alive heading into the final race. Behind Super Nova Racing were out of the hunt in third despite the fact they were 32 points behind with 32 left to fight for, while Durango Corse had moved ahead of Trident Racing.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.