British driver Jolyon Palmer will race for the iSport International team in the 2012 GP2 championship.

The 20-year-old son of Brands Hatch boss Jonathan Palmer will partner Marcus Ericsson at the Norfolk-based outfit, which has amassed a total of 17 wins in the main GP2 series since its formation in 2005.

This will be Jolyon’s second season in GP2 after a promising rookie campaign in 2011 with the Arden team. Palmer, runner- up in the 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship, ended the year with an impressive performance at the Abu Dhabi Finals in a one-off appearance with Addax, claiming a maiden GP2 podium with third in the Feature race followed by a fourth-place finish in the shorter Sprint contest.

Jolyon has tested for iSport on two previous occasions, most recently at Jerez in September when he ended the day seventh fastest overall.

‘I’m delighted to be joining iSport for my second GP2 season,” said Jolyon. “I learnt a lot with Arden last year and now I’m aiming for the top three in the championship. iSport are a proven front-running team in GP2 and I have experience running with them in winter testing, so I am sure we will work well together to achieve this goal.

“The calendar this year is great and the prospect of racing in Malaysia and Singapore is extremely exciting. I must say thanks to my sponsors and also to iSport for showing faith in me. I know that I need to repay them with results this year if I am going to continue my progress towards my F1 goal. I can’t wait to get started!”

Paul Jackson, Team Principal of iSport, said: “Having tested with Jolyon twice now and watched his progress during 2011 up to his impressive podium in Abu Dhabi, we are delighted that he will be joining iSport for the coming season. With his rookie season under his belt, it is the right time for him to be looking for consistent podiums and regular points hauls that will put him in contention for the championship.

“Jolyon has shown a good work ethic and an ability to learn and apply the results of testing, so we expect to see the results of that bear fruit early on.”

The GP2 season is set to commence at Sepang, Malaysia, on 23-25 March and eleven of its twelve rounds in 2012 will run alongside Formula 1. Official testing takes place in Jerez from 28 February to 1 March and Barcelona from 6 to 8 March.

Live race timing, results and news will be available via Jolyon’s official website at www.jolyonpalmer.com