Palmer completes commanding victory

Lights-to-flag win for 18-year-old Briton

Jolyon Palmer has won the opening race of the weekend at Silverstone today (Friday) after taking a commanding lights-to-flag victory.

It was also a good day for championship challengers Tristan Vautier and Kazim Vasiliauskas who were second and third respectively, and in turn closed the gap on standings leader Richard Plant.

Palmer got a clean getaway while new boys Ramon Pineiro and Bastian Graber got bogged down behind. Graber barely got away at all and dropped way down the field, which left Vautier and Vasiliauskas to fight for second. By the time Vautier had seen off the challenge of the Lithuanian he was nearly two seconds behind Palmer.

It was a frantic opening lap for several drivers - Emma Kimilainen and Paul Rees came into contact while battling for fourth. Rees was able to continue but Kimilainen suffered too much damage and had to pit at the end of the lap. Adam Foster and Maxime Jousse were scrapping for sixth and Jousse lost out as he ran through the gravel at Priory.

Luca Orlandi and Bruce Hodges were also among the early spinners, but there was further bad news for FPA debutants Pineiro and Graber on lap five. Spaniard Pineiro had moved into fourth after his stuttering start but the teenager threw it all away as he spun at high speed through the Maggots complex. Only a few seconds later and Graber seemed to spin in sympathy as he approached the scene up ahead. Both drivers were able to continue but they were way down the field and out of contention.

Fourth place seemed to be a poisoned chalice as Paul Rees was next to lose the position as he came through Becketts on lap ten. The Englishman held the place comfortably until his fire extinguisher went off in his cockpit and he spun dramatically. Adam Foster was left to inherit fourth ahead of Jose Alonso Liste, David Rotar and Ashley Babbra.

There was a great battle going on for eighth, which was eventually won by a determined Philipp Frommenwiler. The Swiss driver drove superbly as he held off the recovering Rees and the hard charging Richard Plant. It was an incredible effort from Frommenwiler who had started behind Plant on the grid in 15th.

Back at the front and the top two traded fastest laps until the finish, but Vautier could do nothing about Palmer and the 18-year-old went on to take a stunning victory: "That was really great," said Jolyon. "I didn't think I had got such a great start but I looked in my mirrors and saw that I had a big gap. From then on I just managed the race and made sure I kept the gap back to Vautier. Scoring my first points in F2 at Imola recently was a boost for my confidence and it really shows the progress I have been making. I have proved that today by coming back to FPA and showing how far I have moved forward in the last year."

Formula Palmer Audi - Silverstone GP circuit - race one results:

1. Jolyon Palmer, 12 laps
2. Tristan Vautier, +0.614s
3. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +7.223s
4. Adam Foster, +15.036s
5. Jose Alonso Liste, +16.104s
6. David Rotar, +18.714s
7. Ashley Babbra, +20.777s
8. Philipp Frommenwiler, +26.351s
9. Paul Rees, +26.793s
10. Richard Plant, +27.313s

The second of the weekend's three races will commence at 09:40 BST tomorrow (Saturday 3 October). For the latest news and results, visit the official Formula Palmer Audi homepage by clicking the link below.