Jolyon Palmer leads GP2 Championship after winning start in Bahrain
After also taking points for pole position and for setting fastest lap in both races, Jolyon holds a 10 point advantage over nearest rival Julian Leal.
Jolyon Palmer holds a 10 point lead in the GP2 Championship standings after an exceptional start to his season in Bahrain, which saw him claim pole position and a podium in yesterday’s (Saturday) Feature Race, and a stunning victory in today’s Sprint Race.
On his debut for French team DAMS in the F1 feeder category, the 23-year-old Briton, from Southwater, West Sussex, took a second career GP2 pole position in qualifying, and despite a slow start to the Feature Race, fought back well to open his account with an excellent third place finish behind Stoffel Vandoorne and Julian Leal.
Pressurising leader Simon Trummer around the opening lap, Jolyon made a move for the lead across the line starting lap two and then maintained a comfortable gap over his rivals for the remainder of the 23 lap contest to take victory, and with it, the championship lead.
After also taking points for pole position and for setting fastest lap in both races, Jolyon holds a 10 point advantage over nearest rival Julian Leal.
Speaking after today’s race, Jolyon enthused: "Yesterday was first to sixth in one lap and now it's sixth to first! We definitely made up for yesterday and I'm absolutely delighted.
"We did a lot of homework overnight on the starts and on tyre degradation and we nailed them both.
"After the start it was just a case of managing the race and I had the two guys behind me and it wasn't easy, but I'm really happy with the job we have done.
"The car feels great. On qualifying pace we are there and we showed that in pre season testing also. I was surprised yesterday that we didn't quite have the race pace but today I think we've proved we've found a big step and hopefully now we'll be very strong for the European season."
Jolyon Palmer
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