Photo: Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Josef Kaufmann Racing duo Louis Deletraz and Kevin Jorg shared poles for the Spielberg races of Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, locking out the front row on both occasions.
Despite not having topped either practice session, points leader Deletraz extended his streak of consecutive NEC poles to five in qualifying one, before Jorg finally cut it short in session two.
Deletraz ran less laps than most of the field in the first shootout, but still came out two tenths up on compatriot Jorg, with karting prodigy Jehan Daruvala recording his best qualifying in single-seaters yet a further two tenths down.
Ukyo Sasahara split Daruvala and his Fortec teammates Callan O’Keeffe and Alex Gill at the last second to go fourth, while Prizma’s Pontus Fredricsson led fellow FR2.0 newcomers Colin Noble, Nikita Mazepin and Darius Oskoui in seventh.
Jorg finally had his revenge in qualifying two, taking two tenths out of Deletraz with a late lap. Daruvala was third again, his teammate and fellow rookie Gill settling for fourth after leading the session with three minutes to go.
Charlie Eastwood, making his debut with AVF, led teammate Josef Zaruba in fifth, with Noble and O’Keeffe following suit to make up row four.
Fortec’s Ferdinand Habsburg made it all four cars in the top ten for the British team, while Sasahara completed the five rows.
GP3 regular Alex Palou, racing this weekend to prepare for his championship’s round at Spielberg, was 17th and 14th for Inter Europol, beating his teammate David Richert on both occasions.
The grid for the third race this weekend was determined by second-best times in session two, with Deletraz claiming his sixth pole of the season ahead of Jorg and Gill.
Qualifying results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Louis Deletraz | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.130 | 1 | Kevin J?rg | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:30.764 |
| 2 | Kevin Jorg | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.339 | 2 | Louis Del?traz | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:30.938 |
| 3 | Jehan Daruvala | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.530 | 3 | Jehan Daruvala | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.109 |
| 4 | Ukyo Sasahara | ART Junior Team | 1:31.613 | 4 | Alex Gill | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.132 |
| 5 | Callan O’Keeffe | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.617 | 5 | Charlie Eastwood | Strakka Racing | 1:31.163 |
| 6 | Alex Gill | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.617 | 6 | Josef Zaruba | AVF | 1:31.186 |
| 7 | Pontus Fredricsson | Prizma Motorsport | 1:31.708 | 7 | Colin Noble | MGR Motorsport | 1:31.209 |
| 8 | Colin Noble | MGR Motorsport | 1:31.750 | 8 | Callan O’Keeffe | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.280 |
| 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.751 | 9 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.295 |
| 10 | Darius Oskoui | ART Junior Team | 1:31.799 | 10 | Ukyo Sasahara | ART Junior Team | 1:31.371 |
| 11 | Ferdinand Habsburg | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.890 | 11 | Dries Vanthoor | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.410 |
| 12 | Charlie Eastwood | Strakka Racing | 1:31.912 | 12 | Nikita Mazepin | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.425 |
| 13 | Dries Vanthoor | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:31.944 | 13 | Max Defourny | Strakka Racing | 1:31.555 |
| 14 | Josef Zaruba | AVF | 1:31.970 | 14 | Alex Palou | Inter Europol Competition | 1:31.595 |
| 15 | Max Defourny | Strakka Racing | 1:31.972 | 15 | Henrique Chaves | AVF | 1:31.621 |
| 16 | Henrique Chaves | AVF | 1:32.027 | 16 | Darius Oskoui | ART Junior Team | 1:31.775 |
| 17 | Alex Palou | Inter Europol Competition | 1:32.611 | 17 | Pontus Fredricsson | Prizma Motorsport | 1:31.994 |
| 18 | Rahul Raj Mayer | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:32.785 | 18 | Rahul Raj Mayer | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:32.201 |
| 19 | Bartlomiej Mirecki | BM Racing | 1:33.035 | 19 | Bartlomiej Mirecki | BM Racing | 1:33.097 |
| 20 | David Richert | Inter Europol Competition | 1:33.960 | 20 | David Richert | Inter Europol Competition | 1:33.558 |