2006 Istanbul Sprint Race

The 2006 Istanbul Sprint Race, formally known as the 2006 Istanbul GP2 Series Race 2, was the nineteenth race of the 2006 FIA GP2 Series, staged at the Istanbul Park circuit in Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, on 27 August 2006. The race would see Andreas Zuber claim his maiden GP2 victory, although that triumph was overshadowed by the antics of Champion-elect Lewis Hamilton.

Nelson Piquet Jr. had claimed victory in the Feature Race, meaning he would start the Sprint from eighth courtesy of the reverse-grid rule. Instead, it was his teammate Alexandre Negrão who was to start from pole position in the Sprint, while Zuber started from second.

When the lights went out Negrão was slow to react, allowing Zuber to immediately jump the Brazilian and claim the lead. Negrão then came under attack from Adam Carroll through the first corner, although after a brief clash of wheels allowed Negrão to jump back ahead of the Ulsterman at the exit.

Behind, a fine start from Piquet and title rival Lewis Hamilton saw the pair jump up to fifth and sixth, leading them to come to blows over fifth over the rest of the opening lap. Piquet ultimately won that fight and elbowed his way past the Brit, while Alexandre Prémat, Hamilton's teammate, slipped down to tenth.

The start of the second tour saw Giorgio Pantano, Luca Filippi and Clivio Piccione go off at turn one, all spinning and stalling against the barriers in separate incidents. Ernesto Viso narrowly avoided Pantano as the Italian spun across the circuit in front of him, having a spin of his own, before Hamilton sent himself spinning while trying to attack Piquet.

Hamilton ended up at the back of the field, although after getting his car pointed back in the right direction, there was no stopping the Brit. Indeed, barring a move on Ferdinando Monfardini that was made perilously close to some yellow flags, the Brit soon found himself back in the top ten and chasing the point scorers.

Out front, meanwhile, Zuber had briefly managed to build a lead over Negrão, until the Brazilian racer suffered an engine failure and dropped out. That released Carroll to get onto the Austrian/Emirati racers tail during the middle part of the race, while behind Timo Glock came under attack from Piquet for third.

The fight for third would soon draw in Lucas di Grassi after Glock made some very robust defensive manoeuvres, before Hamilton caught the three of them. di Grassi and Piquet fell to the Brit relatively quickly, although Hamilton would have to elbow his way past Glock over two laps before he finally grabbed third with three laps to go.

With that Hamilton was off to catch Carroll, who remained glued to the tail of Zuber and unable to find a way past the #27 Trident. On the final lap Carroll would come under attack from Hamilton, relenting at turn eleven, allowing Zuber to escape up the road.

Indeed, that move by Hamilton proved to be the last major moment in the race, with Zuber sweeping across the line just ahead of the Brit to claim his maiden GP2 victory, and one that would be completely overshadowed by Hamilton's charge to second. Carroll secured third ahead of Glock, while Piquet secured fifth ahead of Nicolas Lapierre as the Frenchman claimed the final point ahead of compatriot Prémat.

Background
There were no changes required to Istanbul Park ahead of the second GP2 race of the weekend, with the field likewise unchanged after the final results of the Feature Race were declared. As a result Alexandre Negrão would start the race from pole position after finishing eighth in the Feature, while Nelson Piquet Jr., the winner in the Feature, would start from eighth.

A Turkish Treble
A third maximum score in a row for Nelson Piquet Jr. had allowed the Brazilian to once again close the gap atop the Championship, although he still remained a pretender rather than the leader. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton had held onto an eight point lead by finishing second to Piquet, with those two the only drivers capable of taking the crown. Indeed, third placed Alexandre Prémat had had slipped 33 points behind after the first race in Istanbul, with only 27 points left to fight for over the remaining three races.

In the Teams' Championship ART Grand Prix had secured the Championship crown with three races to spare, as they moved onto an unassailable tally of 157 points. Behind, Piquet Sports had moved ahead of iSport International in what was now a fight to finish as runners-up, with the Brazilian registered squad establishing a four point advantage in that fight. Arden International and Trident Racing then completed the top five, with no changes to the rest of the overall order.

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:

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

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Andreas Zuber.
 * Trident Racing claimed their third victory as an entrant in the FIA GP2 Series.
 * Fifth fastest lap recorded by Lewis Hamilton.

Standings
Lewis Hamilton finally reversed the late charge from Nelson Piquet Jr. over recent races, meaning he could add to his ever decreasing lead. Indeed, the Brit left Istanbul with a ten point lead in the title hunt, meaning he could win the 2006 FIA GP2 Series crown at the 2006 Monza Feature Race if Piquet failed to outscore him by three points in the race. Behind, Alexandre Prémat had seen his hold on third reduced to four points by Timo Glock, while Ernesto Viso held fifth.

In the Teams' Championship ART Grand Prix had already claimed the Championship crown, and had increased their tally to 163 points with two races to go. The fight for second, however, was still alive ahead of the finale, with Piquet Sports leading the fight by three points from iSport International leaving Turkey. Arden International, meanwhile, would fight with Trident Racing for fourth at the finale, having slipped too far back to challenge for second.