Jolyon Palmer got his first taste of the iconic Monaco circuit today (Thursday), finishing 23rd in the opening GP2 practice session.

With this weekend being the first time the 20-year-old has visited the 3.340km street circuit, Jolyon began the 30-minute session well, lapping amongst the midfield contenders.

The rookie, who races for Arden International, then set about improving his lap times before the session was briefly halted following a spin by Rapax driver Julian Leal.

When the session restarted, Jolyon was running in P23 as he looked to learn the 18 corners of the Circuit de Monaco and find the right set up for his 612bhp GP2 machine.

Jolyon, who finished as runner-up in the FIA Formula Two Championship last year, then encountered an ignition problem, coming to a halt and ending his session with five minutes left to go on the clock. His best time of 1:26.990s was achieved on his 11th lap.

Speaking afterwards the racer who lives in West Sussex said: "The session started well but unfortunately I had an ignition problem midway through so I couldn't put a good lap together. I'm still learning the track though and hopefully I can push harder in qualifying this afternoon."

DAMS driver Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets for the session followed by Dani Clos and Stefano Coletti.

Jolyon is next on track at 15.15 (GMT+1) for the Monaco qualifying session with full coverage available via his official website.

Monaco GP2 practice session results:

1. R Grosjean, DAMS, 1:22.368s
2. D Clos, Racing Engineering, +1.141s
3. S Coleti, Trident Racing, +1.179s
4. L Filippi, Super Nova Racing, +1.275s
5. D Valsecchi, AirAsia, +1.313s
6. J Bianchi, Lotus ART, +1.339s
7. J Cecotto, Ocean Racing Technology, 1.436s
8. E Gutierrez, Lotus ART, +1.563s
9. M Chilton, Carlin, 1.617s
23. J Palmer, Arden International, +4.622s