Jolyon Palmer concluded his preparations for the opening rounds of the 2012 GP2 Series this week by finishing ninth fastest overall at the final test in Barcelona.

The 21-year-old from Southwater joined 25 other top international drivers for the three-day session at the Circuit de Catalunya, home to the Spanish Grand Prix. Having finished fifth fastest during last week’s test in Jerez, Jolyon continued his strong from on the opening day (Tuesday) by going second quickest in the morning session and fifth fastest for the day.

"The morning session was a good one for us," said Jolyon. "The track temperature was very cold to start with and we struggled to get temperature into the tyres. We made some good changes to the set up to help this and I managed a very good lap which put me P2.”

Day two saw Jolyon, who drives for the iSport International team, concentrate on car setup for different tyre compounds. He also completed a full race simulation in preparation for the opening rounds in two weeks’ time.
Jolyon ended the day ninth on the timesheets with his best time a full half second quicker than his fastest from day one. "In the morning we did two new tyre runs and I was very competitive on the prime tyres but when we changed to the options I didn't find enough of a gain and finished P9," said Jolyon.

Jolyon’s next GP2 outing will be at Malaysia for the opening round of the season on 23-25 March in Sepang, supporting the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. Full coverage, including live timing, will be available on his official website www.jolyonpalmer.com