Race Two Format Altered

From this weekend, the second race, which ran on Sunday morning before the second Formula One qualifying session, has been extended to 120 kilometres or 45 minutes.

The change comes in the wake of alterations to the Formula One qualifying regulations, and will allow the drivers to run for around fifteen minutes longer than at previous meetings. The format will be unchanged, with no pitstops in the race and points for the top six finishers.

Bruno Michel, the GP2 series organiser, welcomed the change, noting: "The increased length of our second race is good news for the GP2 series. It is a welcome bonus, as it will allow more scope for the entertaining battles we have been treated to thus far in 2005."

The series' technical team ran another test at the Paul Ricard circuit this week to sort out the cars ahead of this weekend's race at the Nurburgring.

Head of Engineering Bernard Dudot advised a few changes have been made: "One change we have managed to make is a brand new clutch input shaft which will be fitted to all cars, and of course we will have the normal gear ratios back."

A number of drivers suffered gearbox problems at the Monaco circuit, and it is hoped that the return of the normal gear ratios after the one-off change for Monaco will rectify the problem.

With the series headed to its fourth round in Germany, Dudot is hopeful that the cars will be as close as possible to a completely sorted package: "We're not far away from sorting everything and getting to our definitive level, and a test at the start of June will see us testing a completely new radiator and heat exchangers, plus a new, smaller and tidier electrics box."