Palmer fastest in Formula 2 test

The 19-year-old, who is the son of series boss Jonathan Palmer, finished 21st in last year's championship but knocked F2 race winner Phillip Eng off the top of the timesheet in the final hour's running.

"It was a good lap - I had the pace for the whole day so it was nice to end on top of the timesheet," said Palmer.

"Track conditions weren't perfect but the car certainly feels better than last year. That is two test days that I have topped now, so my expectations are certainly changing - hopefully that will continue and that I can be a challenger for the championship."

F2 newcomer Johan Jokinen finished the day in third, behind Eng, with fellow rookies Dean Stoneman, Will Bratt and Kelvin Snoeks filling the top six.

The other two series newcomers, Benjamin Bailly and Sergei Afanasiev, were seventh and eighth with returnees Tom Gladdis and Armaan Ebrahim completing the top 10. There were a total of 15 F2 newcomers in the 22-car field.

The test at Snetterton concludes today, ahead of the first races of the season at Silverstone on April 18.

Pos Driver                  Time/Gap
 1. Jolyon Palmer            59.512s
 2. Philipp Eng               +0.155
 3. Johan Jokinen             +0.342
 4. Dean Stoneman             +0.439
 5. Will Bratt                +0.540
 6. Kelvin Snoeks             +0.542
 7. Benjamin Bailly           +0.550
 8. Sergei Afanasiev          +0.754
 9. Tom Gladdis               +0.809
10. Armaan Ebrahim            +0.900
11. Jose Alonso Liste         +0.998
12. Mihai Marinescu           +1.008
13. Ricardo Teixeira          +1.117
14. Jack Clarke               +1.172
15. Paul Rees                 +1.287
16. Parthiva Sureshwaren      +1.136
17. Benjamin Lariche          +1.366
18. Ivan Samarin              +1.572
19. Nicola de Marco           +1.910
20. Natalia Kowalska          +2.156
21. Plamen Kralev             +2.513
22. Ajith Kumar               +3.458