Not that Villa will be alone, however, for the battle for third in the championship will also be decided this weekend. Filippi is the man aiming to cling onto his position, but the Italian will face stiff opposition from countryman Giorgio Pantano. With other places up for grabs in the final order, expect the usual scrapping for position on track, with the likes of Carroll, Chandhok and Lapierre all looking to impress ahead of 2008.
The team championship is equally hard-fought, with Glock's iSport International squad leading on 109 points, courtesy of the combined efforts of the German and team-mate Andi Zuber. di Grassi's ART Grand Prix sits just 22 points behind, and will be looking for a third straight title sweep this weekend with 33 points on offer. Mikhail Aleshin returns to bolster ART's efforts, replacing Sebastien Buemi in the seat once occupied by 2006 Valencia winner Michael Ammermuller.
Filippi and Pantano's personal battle will also carry extra weight as Super Nova International and Campos Grand Prix know that they could both still snatch second in the tables from ART. Team-mates Mike Conway and Vitaly Petrov have both shown improved form of late and the battle for the lesser positions could be as exciting as that at the top.
Two other line-up changes will alter the grid this weekend, with Filipe Albuquerque replacing the A1GP-bound Adrian Zaugg at Arden International and Sergio Hernandez coming in for the injured Pastor Maldonado at Trident - usurping the subject of Glock's ire at Spa, Ricardo Risatti. Both have previous GP2 experience, with Hernandez having competed in both 2005 and 2006 and Albuquerque standing in for Racing Engineering at
Silverstone.
