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Grid penalties put paid to Will’s promising weekend at Spa

It was a case of what could have been for Will Palmer at Spa-Francorchamps, after two post-qualifying grid penalties put paid to what was a highly encouraging start to the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup weekend (29/30 July) in Belgium. Having posted the fifth-fastest time in both qualifying sessions, Will was unfortunate to be dropped to the back of the grid for both races after changing his chassis owing to a cracked tub. That forced his absence from the first encounter at Spa before he was then caught up in an opening lap, race-ending accident in the second contest through no fault of his own.

After a successful debut at the demanding Spa circuit in BRDC British F3 earlier in the month, in which the 19-year-old netted a podium finish, Will continued that form into the Northern European Cup as he was amongst the front-runners in practice. His pace continued to improve and he posted the fifth-quickest time in the first of two extremely wet qualifying sessions before a pair of red flags moments apart put paid to the session, not allowing Will to display his ultimate speed, despite the positive performance.

The story was very much the same in second qualifying, where Will once again opened the 20-minute session by going fifth-quickest with a lap time of 2m40.251s, but wasn't able to improve further as two red flags flew, the second preceeding the chequered flag which then end of the session.

Unfortunately for the BRDC Formula 4 Champion, an accident at the end of qualifying left him with a cracked tub, forcing  his R-ace GP team to change his chassis, incurring grid penalties for both races across the weekend in Spa and forcing him to start from the very back of the field. The news was to get worse for Will as, although the French outfit were able to build a new car for him, it was unable to be scrutineered in time and Will had to sit out the opening encounter.

Lining up 30^th for race two on Saturday morning, Will made a determined start and as the lights went out claimed a number of positions immediately through the first turn at La Source. He was duelling hard down the Kemmel Straight but ahead at Les Coombes a number of drivers spun, including the Josef Kaufmann Racing car of Jehan Daruvala. As Will tried to take evasive action, the Indian's car rolled backwards across the track clipping the rear of the Southwater driver's machine, sending him into the barrier at high-speed. Will was able to get out of the car unaided and uninjured but visibly furious after a disappointing end to a weekend that had shown great promise.

The next round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup takes place next weekend (6/7 August) at the TT Circuit of Assen in the Netherlands.

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC - Spa-Francorchamps - Qualifying Race One

1. L Norris, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 2m38.362s
2. D Boccolacci, Tech 1 Racing, +1.949s
3. S Fenestraz, Tech 1 Racing, +1.956s
4. J Allen, JD Motorsport, +2.762s
5. W Palmer, R-ace GP, +2.801s
6. J Daruvala, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +3.172s
7. B Baptista, Fortec Motorsports, +3.393s
8. A Gill, Mark Burdett Motorsport, +3.523s
9. R Shwartzman, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +4.265s
10. H Chaves, AVF, +4.386s

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC - Spa-Francorchamps - Qualifying Race Two

1. L Norris, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 2m37.892s
2. S Fenestraz, Tech 1 Racing, +1.512s
3. J Allen, JD Motorsport, +1.543s
4. M Defourny, R-ace GP, +1.616s
5. W Palmer, R-ace GP, +2.359s
6. A Gill, Mark Burdett Motorsport, +2.409s
7. D Boccolacci, Tech 1 Racing, +2.659s
8. H Chaves, AVF, +2.668s
9. V Romanov, Fortec Motorsports, +2.674s
10. R Shwartzman, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +3.344s

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC - Spa-Francorchamps - Race One
1. L Norris, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 9 Laps
2. D Boccolacci, Tech 1 Racing, +8.135s
3. J Allen, JD Motorsport, +9.173s
4. A Gill, Mark Burdett Motorsport, +17.678s
5. H Chaves, AVF, +21.016s
6. R Shwartzman, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +22.044s
7. J Daruvala, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +26.089s
8. J Falchero, R-ace GP, +31.210s
9. A Ptak, Cram Motorsport, +33.154s
DNS. W Palmer, R-ace GP, Did Not Start

Formula Renault 2.0 NEC - Spa-Francorchamps - Race Two 

1. L Norris, Josef Kaufmann Racing, 10 Laps
2. M Defourny, R-ace GP, +0.722s
3. S Fenestraz, Tech 1 Racing, +2.640s
4. J Allen, JD Motorsport, +3.060s
5. A Gill, Mark Burdett Motorsport, +4.315s
6. D Boccolacci, Tech 1 Racing, +4.904s
7. F Habsburg, Fortec Motorsports, +8.502s
8. R Shwartzman, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +9.086s
9. H Chaves, AVF, +9.998s
DNF. W Palmer, R-ace GP, 0 Laps

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