Sunday, July 29 2012

Jolyon Palmer completed a superb GP2 weekend in Budapest to finish fifth during today's (Sunday) Sprint Race at the Hungaroring.

Starting on a fresh set of primes, Jolyon got away cleanly from his P3 grid slot but just lost out a couple of places to lie fifth by the end of the opening lap. He soon began to close in on Luiz Razia ahead of him though, lapping quicker than the championship leader and all over the back of his Arden car.

By the halfway stage, Jolyon was struggling to find a way past on the tight, twisty track - where overtaking is difficult - with the gap remaining a constant 0.5s. Palmer and Razia then closed in on third-place Giedo Van Der Garde making a three-car train for the final podium spot.

In the closing stages, Jolyon tried a move on Van Der Garde into Turn 1 but just outbraked himself allowing the following Davide Valsecchi to sneak through. Valsecchi then got past Van Der Garde with the Caterham driver leaving enough room for Palmer to follow through as well and regain his fifth spot.
 
In the final few laps Jolyon was right on the gearbox of Valsecchi but was unable to find a way past to finish P5 and complete an impressive weekend for the Brit after his sixth place in Saturday's Feature Race. Jolyon now moves up to 10th in the drivers' standings.

Speaking afterwards Palmer said: "I had another poor start and dropped to fifth. After that I had good pace and was able to pressure Razia for much of the race. I lost a place to Valsecchi late on and passed Van Der Garde who started on the options to finish P5 at the end. Overall I'm happy with the race but disappointed that I couldn't score a podium this weekend. My starts let me down and this is a key area to work on for Spa."
 
At the front, Esteban Gutierrez secured his third of the season from the reverse pole with Nathanael Berthon in second and Razia in third. The next GP2 rounds take place at Spa-Francorchamps after the summer break on 31 August - 2 September. www.jolyonpalmer.com

GP2 Hungaroring, Sprint Race results:

1. E Gutierrez, Lotus GP, 28 laps
2. N Berthon, Racing, +3.5s
3. L Razia, Arden, +15.7s
4. D Valsecchi, DAMS, +29.3s
5. J Palmer, iSport, +30.2s
6. J Calado, Lotus GP, +30.4s
7. R Haryanto, Carlin, +32.3s
8. F Nasr, DAMS, +33.5s
9. S Coletti, Scuderia, +39.4s
10. G VD Garde, Caterham, +41.9s