Jolyon Palmer made a promising start to his first ever visit to the Hungaroring to be lapping on course for a top six finish during today's (Friday) GP2 practice session.

On his inaugural visit to the 4.381km circuit, the rookie showed great pace throughout, lapping very quickly in the first two sectors and set for a top six result during the closely fought session which saw the top 16 drivers within one second of each other.

The 30-minute practice began in dry but cloudy conditions as Jolyon and the rest of the packed GP2 field took to the track. 20-year-old Jolyon, racing for Arden International, looked quick from the off before pitting mid-way through the session.

After rejoining the track, the 2010 FIA Formula Two runner-up again showed great pace in the opening two thirds of the lap but was just losing time in the final sector to record a best time of 1:32.497s - placing him 20th overall.

Speaking afterwards Jolyon said: "It was not a bad session. There was not a lot of grip on the track so it was difficult to put a consistent lap in. My first two sectors were very quick and should have put me in the top six but my last sector was letting me down. I can see where I'm losing time and I'm hoping for a top 10 result in qualifying."

DAMS driver Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets for the session with Christian Vietoris and Giedo Van Der Garde rounding out the top three.

Jolyon is next on track at 15:55 (local time) for today's GP2 qualifying session.

Hungaroring, GP2 practice results:

1. R Grosjean, DAMS, 1:31.173s
2. C Vietoris, Racing, +0.068s
3. G VD Garde, Addax, +0.172s
4. J Bianchi, ART, +0.507s
5. D Clos, Racing, +0.552s
6. A Carroll, Super Nova, +0.651s
7. F Leimer, Rapax, +0.672s
8. D Valsecchi, AirAsia, +0.682s
9. M Chilton, Carlin, +0.736s
20. J Palmer, Arden International, +1.314s