Jolyon Palmer capped an impressive season-opening weekend in the 2014 GP2 Series by claiming a fine victory today in the weekend’s 23-lap sprint race, held in support of the 2014 Formula One Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Palmer won by the narrowest of margins after a heated battle with runner-up Simon Trummer. The victor claimed his win in 41 minutes 02.484 seconds, while Trummer finished just 0.809 seconds behind. Julian Leal completed the podium placers after crossing the finish 1.430s adrift. Both Palmer and Leal enjoyed a fine opening weekends in Bahrain. Palmer’s win added to his third place podium on Saturday for GP2’s 32-lap feature race, when Leal was the runner-up. Palmer also registered the fastest lap then. The result helped Palmer rise to the top of the drivers’ championship standings at the end of round one with 38 points. “I could not have hoped for more,” Palmer said. “I certainly expected to be fighting at the front this weekend and we’ve been always at the front fighting for the win for most of the race yesterday and winning today. Everything has been perfect really. DAMS have done a really good job. I’m happy for them and looking forward to Barcelona.” Leal was ranked second with 28 points, while Stoffel Vandoorne, who triumphed on Saturday, was ranked third with 25 points.
