• Formula Two Championship

A weekend to remember for Jolyon Palmer

ESPNF1 Staff
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Jolyon Palmer celebrates victory in both the weekend's Formula Two Championship races in Monza © Sutton Images
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Jolyon Palmer enjoyed a weekend to remember in Monza, winning both Formula Two races in dominant style and moving to the top of the drivers' championship.

On Saturday Palmer , 19, who started on pole, had an early scare when Johan Jokinen overtook him at the second turn, but Jokinen's hopes were hit when he was handed a drive-through penalty for an infringement on the warm-up lap. Soon after, a crash between Mihai Marinescu and Jack Clarke brought out the safety car, and when the track was cleared Palmer had to fight off a determined challenge from Dean Stoneman.

"The closing stages were tense," Palmer said. "Dean was right behind me and I was delighted to keep him there. The safety car changed everything and after the restart the car wasn't feeling as good, but I had a lot of boosts left."

On Sunday Palmer, who again started on pole, was far more assured and once he had shaken off Will Bratt he was unchallenged. Bratt, who looked good for second, lost out to Sergei Afanasiev two laps from the end.

Stoneman finished fourth after he collided with Phillip Eng, who had come into the weekend leading the championship. But after a disappointing 11th on Saturday when he got stuck in midfield traffic, he was forced to retire after the accident. Jokinen was also involved in the incident and hit Eng's front wheel and also retired.

While Palmer enjoyed a great weekend, at the other end of the spectrum was Nicola de Marco, who failed to get further than the first corner in either race.

Championship standings

Driver Points
1 AUS Jolyon Palmer 109
2 GER Dean Stoneman 91
3 ESP Phillip Eng 83
4 GBR Will Bratt 60
5 BRA Sergey Afanasiev 51
6 POL Kazim Vasiliauskas 53

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