Lando Norris takes pole and the championship lead, while main rival Ricky Collard spun off half way through the MSA Formula session at Rockingham and will be forced to start at the back.
Norris was fastest in free practice, and was unsurprisingly the first out of the pits as he looked for the vital pole position. He was given a stroke of luck with 10 minutes to go as championship leader Collard slid off on the approach to Tarzan, severely hindering his chances.
Collard had been eighteenth at the time of the red flag and would not make an appearance out of the pits as the session restarted and will start from last for both races.
Norris had been the quickest before the stoppage and would hope to keep up the pace before the rain was scheduled arrived with a few minutes to go. He responded by beating his own best from practice and taking pole position. He hoped to ‘pull away’ in race one with his team mate.
However; it won’t be a double pole as his Carlin team-mate Colton Herta went fastest in terms of second best time and will lead Norris away in race three. A strong session for Herta saw him start slow, but became competitive after the red flag.
In third overall was Dan Ticktum who will line up alongside Sennan Fielding in both race one and three. Ticktum had taken the early advantage and was the man to beat before Norris and Fielding edged in front before the red flag. He was able to get third, but both will be fighting for a win from the second row.
After two rounds where he’s struggled to perform, Matheus Leist will be happy to be back to the front after qualifying fifth ahead of the on-form Enaam Ahmed, who will be hoping to bring over success having become a double winner at the Audru Ring in the SMP F4 Championship.
The only driver to improve late on was Daniel Baybutt who lines up seventh, with the biggest news continuing to be Collard’s poor starting position.
