Elite Motorsport’s Alisha Palmowski has claimed a €30,000 career contribution prize from MotorSport Vision (MSV), after being confirmed as the lead female driver in this year’s GB4 Championship.
The 18-year-old was the highest placed of the four females that participated in the series this year, and she underlined her status as one of the UK’s brightest single-seater talents by securing the championship runner-up spot at Brands Hatch last weekend.
In her first year of single-seater competition, Palmowski won on three occasions (at the Oulton Park season opener and twice at Snetterton) and stood on the podium 11 times, more than any other driver in the field, as well as claiming two pole positions.
She remained in contention for the outright title throughout the campaign, and ended the year with a run of four podiums from the final six races, aiding her rise to the runner-up spot, which was secured in the final race of the year.
Palmowski’s €30,000 prize from MSV can be put towards a drive in next year’s F1 Academy series, should she secure a contract with one of the teams in the series.
"Honestly it’s been the best year in GB4” Palmowski said. “I cannot rate the series highly enough and the future next year looks really bright with the new car. I just can’t thank everyone involved enough; it’s been incredible. My sponsors as well as everyone at Elite Motorsport, Jonathan Palmer as well for setting up the whole series, I’m just really grateful to everybody.
"I’m absolutely over the moon to have taken second in the championship, and to have won the career contribution prize too. It’s been a tricky year with highs and lows. We were 72 points off the lead of the championship at one point, but we had that great weekend at Snetterton, which brought us back into contention. We lost the championship to Linus Granfors, which is very well deserved and congratulations to him, but I just really wanted that second place. I said if we came third in the championship we would have had a very dull journey home but we’ll be on the karaoke now, so I’m very happy!
"I’m just going to focus on celebrating this year for now; the team has put so much effort in, as have I. I’ll stay in the gym, make sure I’m as physically fit as possible for next season and hopefully we have some testing lined up. I’ve got an announcement coming in hopefully the next two to three months on what next year’s plans are. It’s going to be very exciting, so watch this space."
MSV Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: "Alisha has been an absolute revelation this year and I have been hugely impressed by her performances in GB4. She has taken to single seaters like a duck to water, has been very quick in qualifying and a really feisty racer, as her competitors will testify! At the same time Alisha has made very few mistakes, and her championship second place is testimony to both her speed and consistency.
"What has been equally impressive is Alisha's performances out of the car. She is immensely clear thinking, confident without being arrogant and a media dream, always delightful to listen to and never complaining. Not only is Alisha super competitive but also a wonderfully enthusiastic and positive person. She’s going to go far."
