Ben Palmer has expressed his delight at producing an “almost perfect” start to his title defence in the Michelin Clio Cup Series during the opening rounds at Silverstone this past weekend.
Palmer won the title last season following a season-long duel with Anton Spires, and after seeming like he wouldn’t be returning to the grid this year, he was confirmed as a late entrant.
Running with his own privateer team, Palmer would be the class of the field throughout the season opener around the Silverstone National circuit, topping qualifying by six tenths of a second.
It would be in the opening eighteen lap race that Palmer truly showed his dominance, winning by over nineteen seconds and posting a fastest lap eight tenths quicker than anyone else.
The second encounter would be a much closer affair, but Palmer’s two second victory means he holds an early nine point championship lead heading to Rockingham next month.
He said: “Starting the new season with two victories, both pole positions and a fastest lap is almost the perfect weekend, and it’s definitely good to kickstart the defence of my title this way.”
Alongside his own success, Palmer was pleased to his new team-mate Simon Freeman take a two podium finishes of his own to end the weekend in joint-second in the standings.
“Credit to my team-mate Simon as well,” Palmer added. “We’ve both had a good start to the campaign and the team have done an incredible job keeping both cars ticking over.
“I’m feeling pretty confident we’ll both be right up there when we get to Rockingham next month, and hopefully there’s more silverware on the way.”
