Derek Palmer disappointed after debut Knockhill appearance

Derek Palmer left his first BTCC home event disappointed, feeling the Support our Paras Racing Infiniti Q50 had finally turned a corner, but not coming away with the results.

Palmer struggled in qualifying, qualifying 23rd and unable to really make any inroads on the field for the rest of the weekend, getting involved in incidents or suffering mechanical failures in each of the three races.

“A rough day at the office,” Palmer told TouringCarTimes. “It’s been weird other races we’ve maybe lacked the pace and scraped a result and then this weekend we had the pace but couldn’t get the result which is the flipside so there’s a lot of positives to take from it.”

Palmer’s only race finish came in race two, finishing down in 21st, having struggled in race one and three, retiring before the drop of the chequered flag.

“In race trim we made a mistake to be fair,” he said. “I actually felt quick, the car felt good. It was a shame to start so far back and it was hard to make progress. It was the first time it felt properly hooked up, it felt great.”

Despite the car feeling good around the 1.2 mile Knockhill circuit, Palmer was quick to point out that it’s risky to be confident on the back of a good weekend in Scotland, owing to the circuit’s unique characteristics.

“I hope we’ve turned a corner, but this weekend was different,” warned Palmer, who still holds second in the Jack Sears Trophy behind Josh Cook, but is now coming under increasing pressure from Stewart Lines, who sits just six points behind the Infiniti driver. “It’s a very niche track so we have to be careful how positive we are coming from it, I try not to get involved with it but this is a rear-wheel-drive track. The boys have been great this weekend, they’ve done a great job and it’s just a shame we couldn’t get a result out of it.”