Photo: STCC
FR1.6 Nordic standings leader Joonas Lappalainen eased to pole position in qualifying on home soil at Botniaring.
The Finn took the top spot of the leaderboards with his first timed effort and would subsequently prove to be in a league of his own, regularly lapping quicker than his opponents’ best efforts by a healthy margin.
At the checkered flag, Lappalainen led nearest rival Lukas Sundahl by 0.757s, taking pole for the first of three races planned for the weekend.
Scuderia Nordica’s Ralf Aron took third, with Kevin Aabol narrowly leading Pontus Fredricsson in fifth.
The championship’s other resident Finn Ilmari Korpivaara was sixth, while Robert Svensson led fellow sophomores Oliver Soderstrom and Paul Blomqvist in seventh.
Robin Fredriksson and Karl Ero rounded out the field.
Qualifying results
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Joonas Lappalainen | 1:39.013 | 11 | |
| 2 | Lukas Sundahl | 1:39.770 | 0.757 | 11 |
| 3 | Ralf Aron | 1:40.085 | 1.072 | 10 |
| 4 | Kevin Aabol | 1:40.231 | 1.218 | 10 |
| 5 | Pontus Fredricsson | 1:40.250 | 1.237 | 10 |
| 6 | Ilmari Korpivaara | 1:40.434 | 1.421 | 11 |
| 7 | Robert Svensson | 1:40.802 | 1.789 | 11 |
| 8 | Oliver Soderstrom | 1:40.827 | 1.814 | 10 |
| 9 | Paul Blomqvist | 1:40.888 | 1.875 | 8 |
| 10 | Robin Fredriksson | 1:41.295 | 2.282 | 10 |
| 11 | Karl Ero | 1:47.074 | 8.061 | 10 |