Double GT Cup champion Andy Schulz secured the first pole position of the new LMP3 Cup Championship during a shortened qualifying session at Donington Park.
Driving a Ligier JSP3-Nissan entered by G-Cat Racing, Schulz reeled off a time of 1:02.362s on his fourth flying tour of the 1.9 mile national circuit to top the 10-minute shootout.
Schulz will share the car with team-mate Paul Bailey during the pair of 60-minute races on Saturday and Sunday.
The British duo switched to prototype racing in 2017 after becoming the first crew to win back-to-back GT Cup championships in different categories.
Second in qualifying was reigning European LMP3 champion Christian England, who checked in half a second off the pace driving the #2 United Autosports Ligier JSP3.
The second row will be filled by the #3 United Autosports car of Matt Bell and Tony Wells and the #79 Ecurie Ecosse machine driven by Alasdair McCaig and Colin Noble.
The session was brought to a premature halt when Steve Tandy – who shares a Ligier with ex-Formula One driver Karun Chandhok – went off into the gravel.
Round one of the LMP3 Cup Championship takes place later today (Saturday, April 22) at 15:25.