Jolyon Palmer produced another strong fight back drive to secure fourth place in this morning's (Sunday 12 May) GP2 sprint race in Barcelona.

Starting 10th, the Carlin driver made up five places on the first lap before a late race move on Johnny Cecotto to claim fourth.

Jolyon made his customary rapid get away from the starting grid, and despite having to avoid the stalled car of Tom Dillmann ahead of him, was up to sixth after the first sequence of corners, having started 10th as a result of yesterday's penalty.

He then moved into fifth place with a pass on Alexander Rossi at the turn 10 hairpin on the first lap.

Settling into the race, Jolyon maintained a gap to Johnny Cecotto in front while also keeping a safe distance between himself and Kevin Ceccon behind, managing his tyres well.

Then with 11 laps remaining Jolyon picked up his pace and began closing the gap to Cecotto by a second a lap, and within three laps had closed right up under his gearbox.

He made his move up the inside of turn four on lap 21, and Cecotto had no answer. Within a lap Jolyon had moved 2.3 seconds ahead, powering away in fourth place.

Jolyon is now sixth in the GP2 standings heading to the next round in Monaco, scene of his maiden win in the series in 2012.

Speaking afterwards Jolyon commented: "I got a good start and managed to end the first lap fifth. From then I was just saving tyres as the degradation is massive here. I pressed on near the end and put a pass on Cecotto to finish fourth. It's a shame to just miss out on the podium but overall I'm happy with the pace we've shown this weekend and the results we've deserved."

Barcelona GP2 sprint race result

1. S Coletti
2. R Frijns
3. F Nasr
4. J Palmer
5. J Cecotto
6. A Rossi
7. K Ceccon
8. D Abt
9. F Leimer
10. J Lancaster

Jolyon is next in GP2 action on 23-25 May at Monaco, where he won last year. Full coverage including live timing, will be available on Jolyon's official website www.jolyonpalmer.com, while live TV coverage of all sessions will be available on Sky's F1 HD Channel.