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Sensational win for Will stretches Formula Renault Eurocup lead at Silverstone

Will Palmer extended his Formula Renault Eurocup title lead with a dominant win and a fighting second place in rounds three and four at Silverstone (13/14 May).

The BRDC SuperStar led every lap of the Saturday's opening race, and even a safety car interruption failed to halt Will's charge to the chequered flag. The 20-year-old followed this up with a second place in the fourth round of the season on the Sunday to stretch his title lead.

Will's weekend got off to a good start with second position in the Friday test session, less than a tenth away from R-ace GP team-mate Max Defourny. The pair were separated in the qualifying sessions, and Will headed the opening session by 0.014 seconds from Robert Shwartzman's R-ace GP machine. The second session yielded faster times, however, with Defourny topping the order and taking pole position.

Will made a good start to race one, but the opening lap was disrupted by the safety car after a startline crash when Neil Verhagen hit the rear of Jarno Opmeer's car. Also unable to complete the first lap was pole man Defourny, so Will led the pack behind the safety car, followed by Henrique Chaves, Shwartzman and Max Fewtrell.

When the race resumed, Chaves tried to attack, but Will made a good restart and quickly found a rhythm, increasing his pace over the next few laps. Unable to live with his rival's speed, Chaves came under attack from Shwartzman, with Fewtrell also keen on taking second place. Free of the chasing pack, Will continued to set a blistering pace, setting the fastest lap of the race on the final lap to win by over six seconds from Chaves and Shwartzman. Fifth place for closest title challenger Sacha Fenestraz means that Will extended his title lead.

Will qualified fourth on the grid for Sunday's race behind Shwartzman, Ticktum and Fenestraz, and maintained this position through the opening series of turns leading onto the Hangar Straight on the first lap. With Ticktum taking the lead from Shwartzman, Will attacked Fenestraz on the outside at Stowe corner, taking third place into Vale and when Ticktum ran wide at the following corner, Club, Will moved up to second.

With only Shwartzman ahead, Will was intent on taking the race lead and tried the outside line at the end of the Wellington Straight, but was unsuccessful on this occasion. With Ticktum, Fenestraz and Defourny fighting over third place behind, Will could concentrate on his rival ahead, however the safety car came out to head the field for ten minutes whilst the stranded car of Chaves was recovered to the pitlane.

Will did a fine job of anticipating the restart, running around the outside of Luffield and with a good exit onto the pit straight, took the inside line for Copse. Shwartzman defended the lead, however, but for the remaining laps could not shake off his team-mate. Will finished the race less than a second behind Shwartzman, and five seconds ahead of compatriots Ticktum and Fewtrell, and with title rival Fenestraz out of the race following the opening lap skirmishes, further extended his title lead.

"It's been a really good weekend at Silverstone with a first and a second place," said Will. The race on Saturday was quite straightforward after getting away in the lead at the start, but the race on Sunday was a bit harder starting from fourth. I managed to put in a really strong opening lap passing two cars though which elevated me to second, and though I tried for the lead on the first lap it wasn't quite possible. Still, we scored loads of points this weekend and it was great to have a win on home soil. Next up is Pau which is a track neither I nor the team has raced at before. We will have to hit the ground running on Friday practice and build up quickly to make sure we are able to qualify well, as that will be crucial there."

The next round of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship takes place a Pau on 20/21 May.

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 - Silverstone, UK - Race One Top 10

1, W Palmer, R-ace GP, 12 Laps
2, H Chaves, AVF, +6.217s
3, R Shwartzman, R-ace GP, +6.444s
4, M Fewtrell, Tech 1, +6.833s
5, S Fenestraz, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +7.253s
6, A Peroni, Fortec, +7.802s
7, R Verschoor, MP Motorsport, +9.986s
8, G Aubry, Tech 1 Racing, +11.193s
9, Y Ye, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +11.885s
10, D Ticktum, Arden, +12.260s

Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 - Silverstone, UK - Race Two Top 10

1, R Shwartzman, R-ace GP, 12 Laps
2, W Palmer, R-ace GP, +0.860s
3, D Ticktum, Arden, +5.958s
4, M Fewtrell, Tech 1, +6.100s
5, R Guzman, R-ace GP, +8.633s
6, R Verschoor, MP Motorsport, +10.052s
7, L Leeds, Josef Kaufmann Racing, +10.799s
8, T Maxwell, Tech 1, +11.144s
9, A Korneev, Fortec, +11.890s
10, P Martono, Mark Burdett Motorsport, +12.976s

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Latest Eurocup Standings