Palmer doubles up at Silverstone

Briton tops incredibly close second qualifying session

Jolyon Palmer took his second pole position of the day at Silverstone after topping an incredibly close qualifying session this afternoon (Friday).

Just 0.012s slower than Palmer was Bastian Graber and David Rotar, who both set exactly the same time towards the end of the 20-minute session - it is Graber who will line-up on the front row however, having completed his lap before Rotar.

The closeness of the front-runners continued to be a key feature of the session as both Paul Rees and Kazim Vasiliauskas took fourth and fifth, less than a tenth of a second from the pole position time.

Championship challenger Tristan Vautier led the times in the early stages, but the Frenchman had to settle for sixth at the finish. Rotar also held provisional pole for a brief period before Palmer clinched his second pole of the weekend at the halfway stage of the session.

"It was okay and I was pleased to have got my best time in early," said Jolyon. "I stayed out just in case anyone went quicker but I was able to save my tyres in the second half of the session, which should help during the races. I know there is a championship battle going on and I want to stay out of it - hopefully I will be ahead of them so it won't be a problem!"

Rotar was happy with his best qualifying result since FPA visited Silverstone earlier in the season, but he was surprised his time was not enough for pole: "When I crossed the line I thought I had the pole," said Rotar. "I knew that I had gone a tenth quicker than before so I was a little surprised that being just 0.012s behind actually leaves me in third! I am happy though - I really like the Silverstone circuit and I was on the absolute limit during that lap."

Dimitris Papanastasiou and Philipp Frommenwiler both spun and recovered at Becketts early on, whilst Emma Kimilainen rejoined after straight lining the Abbey Chicane.

Ramon Pineiro and Maxime Jousse came through to take seventh and eighth while Jose Alonso Liste and Adam Foster needed their final timed lap just to get themselves into the top ten.

Emma Kimilainen and Richard Plant almost battled wheel-to-wheel towards the end of the session after being bottled up behind Luca Orlandi, but the tactic failed to pay off as both were left languishing outside the top ten in 12th and 13th.

Formula Palmer Audi - Silverstone GP circuit - qualifying two results:

1. Jolyon Palmer, 1:47.229s
2. Bastian Graber, +0.012s
3. David Rotar, +0.012s
4. Paul Rees, +0.078s
5. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +0.095s
6. Tristan Vautier, +0.326s
7. Ramon Pineiro, +0.425s
8. Maxime Jousse, +0.498s
9. Jose Alonso Liste, +0.545s
10. Adam Foster, +0.582s

The first of the weekend's three races will commence at 17:00 BST today (Friday 2 October). For the latest news and results, visit the official Formula Palmer Audi homepage by clicking the link below.