Jolyon Palmer was unable to capitalise on his impressive showing in qualifying to finish a frustrating 17th place in today's (Saturday) GP2 opening round in Turkey.

After qualifying as the top rookie during Friday's qualifying session, Jolyon started 12th on the grid for the season opener at the Istanbul Speed Park - gaining a further place following a grid penalty handed to Davide Valsecchi.

During a frantic opening lap, the 20-year-old from West Sussex held firm in the midfield ending the first lap 15th before an incident towards the back of the field caused the safety car to be deployed.

When racing resumed Jolyon was holding his own until a duel with Team AirAsia's Valsecchi saw him sustain damage to his front nose and wing, forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop and undoing his good work.

Jolyon, who finished runner-up in last year's F2 season, was able to rejoin the race but at the back of the field in 22nd place as he set about chasing down the rest of the field.

Undeterred, the GP2 rookie showed good speed throughout the remainder of the 32-lap race and at the chequered flag had gained five places to finish 17th in only his first main series event.

Speaking afterwards the Arden International driver said: "I had a disappointing race. I lost time on the first lap avoiding the crash at Turn 2 and then damaged my front wing early on forcing me to pit for a new nose. After this I just had a lonely race as the pit stop took a long time. My pace was good though over the longer run so hopefully I will be able to move forward from 17th in tomorrow's race."

At the front, Romain Grosjean led from start to finish to take the victory and claim the lead in the championship standings, with Sam Bird in second and Jules Bianchi third.

Tomorrow's race two (Sprint Race) takes place at 9.35am (GMT +1).

Turkey GP2 Race One results:

1. Roman Grosjean, DAMS, 32 laps
2. Sam Bird, iSport, +0.332
3. Jules Bianchi, Lotus ART, +35.856
4. G Van Der Garde, Barwa Addax, +45.933
5. Stefano Coletti, Trident Racing, +52.280
6. Luiz Razia, Team AirAsia, +52.866
7. Charles Pic, Addax, +63.117
8. Dani Clos, Racing Engineering, +71.822 
9. Marcus Ericsson, iSport, +72.913
17. Jolyon Palmer, Arden International, +1 lap