Derek Palmer delighted with improved pace from the Alfa Romeo

Derek Palmer secured his best result of the season in the first TCR UK Touring Car Championship race at Oulton Park with fourth, albeit second on the road in an impressive display, holding off championship leader Dan Lloyd’s Volkswagen.

Palmer launched from fifth on the grid in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR to second at the second attempt at a start after the first try was red-flagged, with the DPE Motorsport driver fending off first Ollie Taylor’s Pyro Motorsport Honda Civic TCR, and later Dan Lloyd’s WestCoast Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, but was demoted to fourth after a five-second penalty for track limits was applied.

Palmer had been set to fall back even further after a ten-second penalty for a false start was set to be applied, but this was rescinded after the race.

In Race 2, Palmer was again running in a podium position until his brakes failed at Druids and he crashed out into the barriers, ending the day on a low after the highs of Race 1.

“The car is good, we know it can do it, we just need a bit of luck and a bit of reliability,” said Palmer to TouringCarTimes.

“I think we’re now one of the first people to beat Dan on the road,” he said. “I’m really happy with the job the boys have done and we’ve proved the car can do it. We know we’re competitive, we’ve just been so unlucky. We’ve been plagued with issues, some minor, some major. It is a good car, it just has a few teething issues.”