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Palmer said: “It feels pretty unbelievable! It’s been such a long journey and I’m so glad to have been confirmed as a race driver with the team next year. A lot of hard work has gone into preparing for this to happen and into proving what I’m capable of delivering.
“I’m very grateful to everyone who has so far helped me at the team; I’m now looking forward to 2016 and to build on the experience that I already have.”
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Palmer follows in the footsteps of his father, Jonathan, who drove in the 1980s, before a stint commentating alongside Murray Walker for the BBC. He now owns the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent as well as a driving centre at the Bedford Autodrome.
Jolyon Palmer attended Cranleigh School, an independent school in Sussex, before studying at the University of Nottingham.