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2015 success a launch pad for greater success says Will

With 12 victories from 24 BRDC F4 races, claiming the BRDC F4 title in addition to the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award (MABA) and Club Driver of the Year title at the end-of-season Autosport Awards, 2015 was quite a year for Will Palmer. The 19-year-old now moves into his first season of racing in Europe with campaigns in the Formula Renault Eurocup and NEC categories, and is confident that he can use last year's triumphs as a launch pad for future success.

"It was an unbelievable year (2015) and I couldn't have dreamed at the start of it that I would win the BRDC F4 Championship, MABA and the Club Driver of the Year Award. It has definitely given me a huge confidence boost for my future career and I am sure I will look back on it well too," said Will.

After dominating the BRDC Formula 4 Championship, Will was selected as a nominee for the MABA, which he won after a demanding two day on-track test at Silverstone plus fitness assessments and interviews. "It was massive for my career to win that award and it gives me a lot of confidence that I can go up against five other really strong drivers and come out on top," he commented. The Southwater racer continued: "The judges showed their faith in me to give me that award, so that gives me the faith that I can go into this year and be on it straight away. It definitely will be a big thing for my confidence and will encourage me to work as hard as I can in the championship."

At the assessment, Will was up against a veteran trio of Formula Renault; Ben Barnicoat, Jake Hughes and 2015 Eurocup Champion Jack Aitken. He was able to glean some useful information and tips from his fellow Brits ahead of his graduation from BRDC Formula 4. "All the guys are very experienced in the championship and have a massive amount of knowledge. It was useful to have them around in the MABA assessment and we did speak quite a lot about Formula Renault. It is quite a unique car to drive and there is definitely a style you need to develop to get used to it. Hopefully that will give me another leg up coming into this year," he said.

Will has enjoyed another boost ahead of the 2016 season as he was recently named a BRDC SuperStar, having previously been on the Rising Stars programme. "It has been really good to be involved with the BRDC Rising Stars. It marks you out as someone who really has the potential to go somewhere in motorsport. The SuperStar takes the Rising Stars programme one step further and is massive for my career," he commented.

"They really do recognise the best in junior motorsport who are aspiring to make it to the top. It is quite an elite selection of people so I am massively honoured to be a part of it. It is rare as a driver that you have regular excess to the top people in the business but through the BRDC SuperStars programme, they run training weekends where you can go to places like the Porsche Human Performance Centre and get proper tuition from someone who is a highly qualified expert in their field." Will continued.

The first pre-season test of 2016 takes place at Motorland Aragon in Spain next week with Will making his first appearance of the year behind the wheel of his Formula Renault machine. However, the teenager is not setting any firm objectives before turning a wheel. "I don't like to set any proper goals before the season has started because I haven't done much running in the car. I need to see how it goes but I will obviously be doing the best job I can and will have to see how it pans out at the end of the year."

Whatever 2016 holds, it is sure to be an exciting year for Will. 

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