Silverstone GP2 race report

09/07/2013

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Not for the first time this season, Comma sponsored Jolyon Palmer gave a master class in rescuing valuable championship points from a seemingly impossible situation when he finished sixth after starting from 20th place on the grid in the GP2 Feature race supporting the British Grand Prix on June 29th.

Caught on the hop in a matter of minutes by the capricious Silverstone weather just as he was preparing for his fast qualifying lap on Friday, Jolyon was left to reflect that "the rain always confuses things and the normal qualifying programme goes out the window. We'll just have to see what we can do tomorrow."

What he could do from the back of the grid turned out to be mightily impressive, as Jolyon once again showed the fighting form that has earned him a reputation as this year's 'King of the GP2 overtakers'. Passing five cars on the opening lap, he was up to 12th place three laps later and running as high as fourth before his mandatory pit stop for tyres.

With the race entering its later stages, Jolyon was running fifth and eyeing a possible podium position as he battled with Stephane Richelmi, Stephano Coletti and Fabio Leimer. But with his tyres having given of their best, Jolyon had to surrender positions to Tom Dillman and then John Lancaster before Leimer and Coletti tangled, eliminating Coletti and promoting Jolyon to sixth place at the chequered flag behind Lancaster in fifth and Leimer in fourth. Up front, Sam Bird delighted the Silverstone crowd with a home win for Britain to add to Lewis Hamilton's epic pole position qualifying lap for the Grand Prix, with Richelmi and Dillman claiming the second and third GP2 podium spots.

"I had a decent start and a mega first few laps passing a lot of people", said Jolyon after the race. "At the end I hurt my tyres too much, and lost a place, but I'm very happy to have produced another good recovery drive and we are in a very strong position for tomorrow's Sprint race."

Such hopes were to be fleeting however. Benefitting from a second row starting position by virtue of the top eight order in the Feature race being reversed for the Sprint event, Jolyon's advantage was effectively snuffed out in the second corner of the opening lap following a chaotic start that bunched the leaders as the red lights went out.

Swiped by Stephan Richelmi, Jolyon was sent into a lurid slide and finished the opening lap in 15th place. Taking advantage of a safety car period, Jolyon then improved his position before encountering Spain's Sergio Canamasas at Brooklands at just over half distance. Turning in on him, the Spaniard left Jolyon no racing room, putting an end to Jolyon's challenge and a deeply frustrating weekend.

The Silverstone faithful had another British victory to acclaim however, as John Lancaster made a triumphant return to GP2, taking an impressive win ahead of Stephan Richelmi and Thom Dillman.

Jolyon meanwhile has just a few days to re-group before next weekend's encounter at Germany's Nurburgring which marks the half-way point of the GP2 season.