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Second Snetterton success as Will bounces back from race two disappointment

Will Palmer took a dominant second win of the weekend at Snetterton, and his eighth victory of the year, in race three following a disappointing second contest. Will was involved in a clash with Chris Mealin when going for the lead in race two, an incident which saw the Lanan Racing man excluded from the results, and denied his hopes of completing a perfect weekend in Norfolk. The 18-year-old bounced back strongly in race three to take the chequered flag over 11 seconds ahead of his closest rival, Tom Jackson.

Starting eighth in race two by virtue of his victory in the first contest of the weekend in Norfolk, Will made a great getaway and avoided an incident between the top-three starters to take third into Riches.

The safety car was deployed to recover the stricken machine of Rodrigo Fonseca and, after a number of laps under neutral conditions, the race restarted. As Chris Mealin and Tom Jackson scrapped for the lead, Will quickly closed up and began harrying Jackson for second. He jinked out of the Chris Dittmann Racing man's slipstream on lap four and overtook him into the first corner. He then set his sights on leader Mealin but the Manxman defended the position forcefully, pushing Will onto the grass.

Championship leader Will attempted to claim the position on lap five as he went down the inside at Agostini but Mealin shut the door under braking and contact was made. With broken rear suspension, Will was forced into retirement. After the race, Mealin was excluded for driving in a manner incompatible with safety for the incidents with Will.

The Championship leader bounced back in style in the third and final race of the weekend however as he took his eighth win of 2015. Having started from pole position by virtue of his fastest lap in race one on Saturday, Will lost the lead off the line as race two winner Tom Jackson got the better getaway to move into first.

Will however stayed close to the gearbox of the Chris Dittmann Racing car and picked him off with a lovely move into Murrays at the end of the first lap. He defended the position into Riches and, with the position secured, got his head down to extend his lead.

He began posting consecutive fastest laps and was soon under lap record pace as he was completely untroubled at the head of the pack. With a few laps remaining, Will lowered the lap record set by himself in 2014, to a 1m49.751s, shaving nearly six-tenths of a second off the previous benchmark. He started the final lap with a lead of 10 seconds over Jackson and eventually came home 11.143s ahead of his rival. Will's HHC Motorsport team-mate Harri Newey rounded out the podium in third having enjoyed a good battle with Ecurie Ecosse Young Driver Ciaran Haggerty.

Speaking on the podium after race three, Will said: "After the disappointment of race two, I wanted to bounce back in style and it was good to be able to take back the lead having lost it off the start. After that, I just wanted to lower the lap record as much as I could. It's a nice record to have as no-one will be able to better that now as the series moves to the new car in November.

"The start didn't go to plan but the opportunity came at the end of the first lap to take the lead. It was just like qualifying after that and I was able to bring it home."

With victory, Will now holds an advantage of 74 points over Tom Jackson in the championship standings with Rodrigo Fonseca a further 29 points adrift in third.

Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship - Snetterton - Race two 

1. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, 10 Laps
2. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, +2.468s
3. Faisal Al Zubair, Hillspeed, +6.094s
4. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, +6.228s
5. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +7.953s
6. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +9.453s
7. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +9.869s
8. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +10.020s
9. Zubair Hoque, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +11.355s
10. Hernan Fallas, Hillspeed, +15.364s
DNF. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 5 Laps 

Duo BRDC Formula 4 Championship - Snetterton - Race three top-10

1. Will Palmer, HHC Motorsport, 10 Laps
2. Tom Jackson, Chris Dittmann Racing, +11.143s
3. Harri Newey, HHC Motorsport, +15.543s
4. Omar Ismail, Chris Dittmann Racing, +17.561s
5. Ciaran Haggerty, Ecurie Ecosse/GBR, +18.540s
6. Jack Bartholomew, Lanan Racing, +21.026s
7. Jordan Albert, Sean Walkinshaw Racing, +21.280s
8. Chris Mealin, Lanan Racing, +21.916s
9. Ameya Vaidyanathan, Hillspeed, +27.566s
10. Jack Lang, Lang Sport/Gorse Motors, +28.120s

The penultimate meeting of the 2015 Duo BRDC Formula 4 season takes place at Donington Park on 12/13 September with rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the year.

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