British GP2 Series driver Jolyon Palmer says he wants to put the bad luck and mechanical gremlins the plagued the start to his season in Asia behind him and begin to score good points as the series begins its European leg.
The 21-year-old from Southwater in West Sussex was blighted by an intermittent electrical problem in his iSport International-run car during the two back-to-back meetings in Bahrain last month. That caused the engine to cut out at random intervals, restricting him to just a seventh place finish from the four races.
Despite the problems he was still able to demonstrate his pace and set the overall fastest lap in the fourth and final race of the fortnight.
Palmer hopes that the mechanical issues will now stay away and that he can start picking up regular points finishes, starting this weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya. While Malaysia and Bahrain had presented him with the challenge of a new track, the Barcelona venue is a circuit he knows particularly well after three days of pre-season testing.
“Going into the European season we need to start again,” said Palmer. “After so much bad luck in Asia we now need to put that behind us and start picking up the points our pace has deserved. After doing three days of pre-season testing at Barcelona I know the track well and with the expected high levels of degradation in the races we should be in a strong position.”