Jolyon Palmer endured a frustrating afternoon during today's (Saturday) GP2 Feature Race in Singapore when a gearbox issue combined with high tyre degradation forced him to retire.

Starting from fourth after a superb performance during Friday's qualifying session, Jolyon got away well as the lights went out and was soon able to get the cut on Fabio Leimer to move into a podium position.

A spin by Rene Binder then brought out an early safety car period with Jolyon, on the supersoft tyres, tight on second place Esteban Gutierrez at the restart. The 21-year-old then headed to the pits on lap eight, switching to a set of used prime tyres and slotting back into P4 after the pit stop shuffle, just behind Luca Filippi.

Like many drivers though, Jolyon then began to suffer from severe tyre degradation as the high temperatures and humidity took their toll, costing him huge chunks of time. That allowed Leimer to get past along with the following cars of Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia before a gearbox issue cut short his race a few laps later. 

Speaking afterwards Jolyon said: "It was a poor race. I had a good first lap to run P3 and was running there solidly for the first stint just behind the top two. After the stop we put on a used set of prime tyres and I started catching the leaders again. Suddenly huge rear degradation kicked in and I was going backwards. In the end the gearbox broke and I couldn't finish the race. I start from the back tomorrow but will push hard and see what happens."

Meanwhile at the front, Max Chilton secured the victory ahead of Gutierrez and Leimer, while Valescchi finished fourth and be crowned the 2012 GP2 Champion.

Jolyon is back in action tomorrow for the Sprint Race which begins at 09:10 (UK time) with full coverage, including live timing, on Jolyon's official website. 

GP2 Singapore, Feature Race results:

1. M Chilton, Carlin, 28 laps
2. E Gutierrez, Lotus GP, +1.3s
3. F Leimer, Racing, +4.8s
4. D Valsecchi, DAMS, +5.9s
5. L Razia, Arden, +6.2s
6. F Nasr, DAMS, +8.7s
7. M Ericsson, iSport, +14.2s
8. G VD Garde, Caterham, +15.1s
9. R Haryanto, Carlin, +48.8s
DNF. J Palmer, iSport