Jolyon Palmer took the first win of the 2010 Formula Two season and his first win the in the series after a controlled drive from pole position. With this win, Palmer has followed in the footsteps of father Jonathon in 1993.
During the opening laps, fellow Brit Dean Stoneman was able to exert pressure on Palmer, until a slight error half way through the race caused him to drop back from Palmer.
Even with Stoneman’s error, the leading British Duo weren't challenged by the chasing pack as they had built up a gap while Russian Sergey Afanasiev was holding the rest of the field up.
Johan Jokinen, who had started second and who had looked promising all weekend had dropped back during the opening lap before stopping on lap two.
Heading into Copse on the first lap, Jokinen, Philipp Eng and Afanasiev were running three abreast and the Russian won the battle, causing the young Dane to take a trip across the grass at Becketts – rejoining the track down in thirteenth.
Soon, Lithuanian returnee Kazim Vasiliauskas joined the party fighting for third position, having passed British debutant Will Bratt for fifth. The trio then fought out for a number of laps, meaning the two British drivers up front a chance to pull away.
Later in the race, Afanasiev was able to pull away and secure his first F2 podium on his debut from the returning Austrian Eng and Vasiliauskas.
Behind the top five, Bratt had a lonely race as he crossed the line some eleven seconds ahead of Romanian driver Mihai Marinescu and Indian Armaan Ebrahim, while rounding out the top ten were Nicola De Marco and debutant Benjamin Lariche.
Palmer was delighted to secure his first F2 win at the home of British Motorsport, Silverstone: “It’s fantastic, all I could have hoped for really, I was under pressure at the start but managed to hold it off and get a small gap. Then I was just concentrating on saving my tyres for the last laps, not making any mistakes and trying to keep focused. I am really delighted with my first F2 win.”
Race One Classification:
- Jolyon Palmer 38:16.660
- Dean Stoneman + 3.011
- Sergey Afanasiev +7.084
- Philipp Eng +9.932
- Kazim Vasiliauskas +11.581
- Will Bratt +12.383
- Mihai Marinescu +23.825
- Armaan Ebrahim +26.881
- Nicola De Marco +31.843
- Benjamin Lariche +34.242
