Jolyon Palmer

Jolyon Palmer
Palmer in 2012.
Nationality	British
Born	(1991-01-20) 20 January 1991 Horsham (United Kingdom)
Related to	Jonathan Palmer (father)
2014 GP2 Series
Debut season	2011
Current team	Carlin
Car no.	10
Former teams	iSport International Arden International
Starts	54
Wins	2
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	11th in 2012
Previous series
2011 2009–2011 2008 2007–08 2006–07 2005–06	GP2 Asia Series FIA Formula Two FPA Autumn Trophy Formula Palmer Audi T Cars T Cars Autumn Trophy
Championship titles
2006	T Cars Autumn Trophy

Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991 in Horsham) is a British professional racing driver.

Career

T Cars

Having spent 2004 racing in MiniMax karts, Palmer moved up to cars in 2005 and specifically the T Cars championship's Autumn Trophy – a racing series for drivers between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years old. Palmer finished fifth in that championship, with a grand total of 92 points, 46 behind championship winner Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. He moved up to the main championship in 2006, earning one pole position and four podiums, and again finished fifth in the championship with 101 points, 69 behind champion Luciano Bacheta. Palmer also took part in a second Autumn Trophy, and dominated the championship by winning four of the six races. He took part in two races of the 2007 season, winning both but decided to concentrate on Formula Palmer Audi.

Formula Palmer Audi

In 2007, Palmer moved to the series which his father, Jonathan, created nine years before. He finished 12th on debut at Silverstone, and his results would slowly improve and would end up with two wins (one at Brands Hatch^[1] and one at Oulton Park^[2]) and two pole positions at Brands,^[3][4] on his way to tenth in the championship and a points total of 187 – some way behind Tim Bridgman's winning total of 360. He missed the final two rounds of the championship, due to an abdominal injury suffered in a quad bike accident at his home in West Sussex.^[5]

He recovered in time for the start of the 2008 season, in which he was a championship challenger right up until the last few races of the season. Consistency was the key for Palmer, with only one win (coming at the overseas race at Spa) and 11 podiums along with three pole positions (amazingly, all at Brands Hatch – meaning all five of his FPA poles came at the circuit) and ended up just 22 points behind Jason Moore, in third place. The Autumn Trophy and the FPA Shootout also brought third places for Palmer, taking three podiums from the six races.

Formula Two

2009 saw Palmer move up to the FIA Formula Two Championship, driving car number three.^[6] His three points came from a sixth-place finish at Imola, as he finished 21st in the championship. He returned to the series in 2010, winning the opening race of the season at Silverstone,^[7] taking the first F2 win by a British driver since his father did so at Mugello in 1983.^[8] Palmer picked up one fifth place finish in the next round at Marrakech, but bounced back to take both wins and the championship lead in the third round at Monza.^[9] He eventually finished 2nd behind fellow Briton Dean Stoneman.

Palmer made a one-off return to F2 during the 2011 season at the Nürburgring, but was a non-starter in both races.

GP2 Series

Palmer driving for Arden at the Monza round of the 2011 GP2 Series season.

Palmer moved to the GP2 Series for 2011, driving for the Arden International team alongside Josef Král.^[10] He scored a top ten finish on his debut weekend at Abu Dhabi on the way to nineteenth overall in the Asia series. More top ten finishes followed in the main series at Istanbul and Valencia, placing him 28th at the end of the season. A move to the Barwa Addax team for the non-championship GP2 Finals saw a breakthrough on his return to Abu Dhabi, with third and fourth places to end his debut year in the category.

For the 2012 season, Jolyon switched to the iSport International team, alongside Marcus Ericsson. Despite topping the first practice session of the year in Malaysia, persistent electrical problems blighted the early part of his season, precipitating a change of chassis. Results immediately improved and a sixth place at Monaco was followed by his maiden GP2 victory in the sprint race.^[11] This was followed by a podium position at Silverstone, putting Palmer into the top ten of the leaderboard as the season entered its second half, although he ultimately slipped to 11th despite another podium finish at Monza.

For the 2013 GP2 Series season Palmer drives for Carlin, partnering Brazilian 2011 British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr. Scoring regular points throughout the year as well as demonstrating excellent overtaking ability, Palmer scored his first win of the year in the Feature Race at the Hungaroring.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season in progress.

Complete Formula Two results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete GP2 Asia Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

• Official website
• Jolyon Palmer career summary at DriverDB.com
• Jolyon Palmer on Twitter