Louis Foster beat championship leader Adam Smalley to pole for the first Ginetta Junior race of the weekend at Snetterton.
The rookie beat team-mate Smalley by just 0.126s when he moved to the top of the times with his final lap of the session, managing a lap time of 2m45.129s as he took the chequered flag.
Smalley, who had only just reclaimed the top spot with his own final lap, had to settle for second, ahead of Luke Browning and Rubens del Sarte.
Jonny Wilkinson, fifth overall, was the second quickest rookie ahead of Patrik Kibble in sixth.
Croft winner Finley Green took seventh ahead of Matt Luff, Greg Johnson and James Taylor.