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Will raring to go after ‘long winter’

After a stellar 2015 season in which he claimed the BRDC Formula 4 title and the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, Will Palmer cannot wait for the start of the 2016 season. Having announced his plans to race in both the Formula Renault Eurocup and NEC categories this year and been unveiled as a BRDC SuperStar, it has already been a busy few months for the 19-year-old but he is understandably champing at the bit to get back on track.

"I'm really excited about 2016. It's been a long winter as usual and now I am just ready to get back into the car," Will said. "It is great to be racing in Europe for the first time and I am confident that together with ART Junior Team, we can do a good job."

In preparation for his step up to racing on the continent for the first time, Will has been putting in the hard yards in the gym, whilst hitting the books too. "I've been training really hard and it's something I've been focused on quite a lot as I head into a faster car with longer races. Because I will be working with a French team, I've also been improving my French. I did French at A-level but there is still a bit of a gap to get to the point where I can speak it fluently so I've been listening to a lot of different French stuff and learning vocabulary to really be able to speak the language properly," the Southwater racer commented.

By competing in both NEC and Eurocup in 2016, Will's calendar will feature a minimum of 14 race meetings at some of Europe's most challenging circuits including Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Monza in Italy and a race around the streets of Monaco, supporting the F1 Grand Prix. "Learning the tracks will be a different challenge for me. I've been racing on the same tracks since I started in Ginetta Juniors in 2012 so it will be a big change. Being in Europe for the first time, the tracks tend to be slightly different compared to most of the UK circuits so it is going to be something to get used to," Will said.

However, the teenager is confident he can get on top of the new circuits he will be racing on: "It will be a challenge turning up there for the first time and learning them but I am sure it won't be too much of a problem. We have a number of pre-season tests which will help so by the time we get to the first track I don't know, I am sure we will be well into the swing of it and can get going straight away."

Will has some prior experience of the Formula Renault car, having raced in the Silverstone round of the Eurocup last year, and admitted that the positive experience of that weekend helped make his decision on where to race in 2016. He stated: "When I did the round at Silverstone last year, it was immediately clear that it was a massively competitive championship and that is exactly what you want as a young driver, racing against some other really strong guys and improve. From that point of view, it was a good experience to work out what it was all about. It was a very professionally run series too."

He enjoyed a strong weekend in Northamptonshire, finishing the final race of the weekend as top rookie and believes that experience will stand him in good stead going into his rookie Formula Renault season, saying: "I think I can definitely take confidence from the fact that I jumped in without any testing and achieved strong results straight away. It was a track I knew which did make it a bit easier so I won't be resting on my laurels at all but I definitely think that I can be pleased with the results we showed and can be confident going into 2016."

With Will's pre-season testing schedule set to commence next week, you can read the second part of our interview with him in the coming days. 

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