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Strong start for Palmer at Brands Hatch

Will Palmer enjoyed a very strong start to his season at Brands Hatch, taking fifth place in race one and second in race two, which leaves him second in the championship standings behind teammate Harry Woodhead heading into the next round at Donington.

Qualifying was held in very difficult conditions, which Ollie Chadwick would testify after losing his car on his first flying lap, leaving the championship contender last for both races. Snow had fallen and was still falling as the session began, meaning that there was a rush to get out and put a strong time in incase the snow would continue, which would mean the track would be at its best early on.

After five minutes of the session, the track conditions had declined and nobody was able to improve. At this point Will lay third in the times, though his second fastest lap, which determines the grid for race two, would have put him pole.

However, the track then began to improve again as the snow stopped, so everyone headed back out to improve on their early effort. The top four soon emerged as Palmer, Woodhead, Donegan and Jackson, swapping fastest times between each other as the laptimes fell lap after lap.

The session eventually finished with Will satisfied to be third for the first race and fourth for the second race, with Harry Woodhead on pole for both races.

Race one began in even worse conditions with the track very wet, and a big slide while avoiding Keith Donegan at turn one meant Palmer fell to eighth. He then made up three places on that first lap, passing someone at every corner on the track, including a confident dive up the inside of Ginetta Junior Scholarship winner Jamie Chadwick at Clearways.

This left him in fifth place when the safety car came out at the end of the first lap after Elliot Paterson slipped off the track at Paddock Hill bend and was beached in the gravel.

Two laps later and racing resumed, with Will quickly making up a further two places following Tom Jackson's spin at Paddock and a well timed pass on James Kellet on the exit of that same corner. At this point the lead trio of Palmer, Donegan and Woodhead began to break away.

Will then managed to pass Donegan in a very similar way to how he passed Jamie Chadwick at Clearways, and started chasing after Harry Woodhead. However, he was forced to defend heavily from Donegan, so Woodhead was able to get away.

This battle also meant that Tom Jackson and Ollie Chadwick were able to catch up, so when Donegan did complete a pass on Will at Graham Hill, Chadwick was able to take advantage and follow him through. A lap later and Tom Jackson performed an aggressive lunge to also get past, which left Palmer in a slightly disappointing fifth place at the end.

Fired up by the disappointments of the day before, Will had a good start to race two, which was held in dry conditions, and was able to slot into third at turn one. Determined to not get held up by Keith Donegan in second and stop Harry Woodhead from getting away, Palmer fought very hard for second and on lap five found a way past with a well timed switch back at Paddock, but a lap later and Donegan was back past after a move up the inside at Clearways. Will once again fought to get past and managed to do it with a superb move around the outside at Paddock, and this time was able to get away and pull out to take the chequered flag in second place behind Harry Woodhead and in front of Tom Jackson.

"I'm really happy with how this weekend has gone; I scored some very good points which was my target after a really strong race two. Race one was frustrating as I was so close to recording another second place, but fifth was not that bad a result. Now I can't wait until Donington, where I'll be hoping for two podium finishes."

Will is next on track at Donington park on 20of April for rounds three and four of the Ginetta Junior Championship.

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