Photo: Paul Davies Photography
An impeccable qualifying performance rewarded Sandy Mitchell with two pole positions for the forthcoming MSA Formula races at Thruxton.
The Arden driver took a big early lead with teammate Ricky Collard in second and they were the only ones to pit at halfway point.
Although it proved to be difficult to improve towards the end and he already had a lead of six tenths, Mitchell decided to rejoin for a final lap and the British karting champion managed to improve by a further two tenths.
Behind Mitchell, the rest of the top ten positions were decided by an extremely close margin. Lando Norris escaped with second despite Matheus Leist’s last-gasp charge, which was only a thousandth of a second off.
JHR’s Sennan Fielding was further 0.002s?down, while Collard in fifth, unable to improve on fresh tyres, was also only two hundredths behind.
Daniel Baybutt and Petru Florescu were sixth and seventh fastest while Indian Tarun Reddy, Brazilian Rafa Martins and Indonesian James Pull completed the top ten.
Unsurprisingly, Mitchell will start race three from pole as it’s decided by the second-best times of the session. Norris completes the front row and the rest of the top five consists of the same people, only in the different order of Collard, Fielding and Leist.
Baybutt and Florescu will start sixth and seventh again and the top ten is rounded out by Pull, Jack Barlow and Martins.
Championship leader Dan Ticktum had a low-key qualifying, ending up 17th after pitting several times.
| Race one grid | |||||
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Sandy Mitchell | Arden | 1:13.264 | 10 | |
| 2 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 1:14.079 | 0.815 | 13 |
| 3 | Matheus Leist | Double R | 1:14.080 | 0.816 | 12 |
| 4 | Sennan Fielding | JHR Developments | 1:14.082 | 0.818 | 10 |
| 5 | Ricky Collard | Arden | 1:14.100 | 0.836 | 13 |
| 6 | Daniel Baybutt | JTR | 1:14.234 | 0.970 | 15 |
| 7 | Petru Florescu | Carlin | 1:14.374 | 1.110 | 13 |
| 8 | Tarun Reddy | Double R | 1:14.389 | 1.125 | 13 |
| 9 | Rafa Martins | SWB Motorsport | 1:14.451 | 1.187 | 14 |
| 10 | James Pull | JTR | 1:14.464 | 1.200 | 13 |
| 11 | Jack Barlow | MBM | 1:14.475 | 1.211 | 11 |
| 12 | Darius Karbaley | Falcon Motorsport | 1:14.513 | 1.249 | 14 |
| 13 | Colton Herta | Carlin | 1:14.570 | 1.306 | 14 |
| 14 | Enaam Ahmed | Arden | 1:14.661 | 1.397 | 13 |
| 15 | Jack Butel | SWB Motorsport | 1:14.698 | 1.434 | 14 |
| 16 | Josh Smith | Fortec Motorsport | 1:14.819 | 1.555 | 14 |
| 17 | Dan Ticktum | Fortec Motorsport | 1:15.213 | 1.949 | 10 |
| 18 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | JTR | 1:15.374 | 2.110 | 13 |
| 19 | Louise Richardson | Richardson Racing | 1:15.791 | 2.527 | 11 |
| 20 | Ollie Pidgley | Richardson Racing | 1:16.334 | 3.070 | 11 |
| Race three grid | |||||
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Sandy Mitchell | Arden | 1:13.464 | 10 | |
| 2 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 1:14.094 | 0.630 | 13 |
| 3 | Ricky Collard | Arden | 1:14.113 | 0.649 | 13 |
| 4 | Sennan Fielding | JHR Developments | 1:14.189 | 0.725 | 10 |
| 5 | Matheus Leist | Double R | 1:14.265 | 0.801 | 12 |
| 6 | Daniel Baybutt | JTR | 1:14.269 | 0.805 | 15 |
| 7 | Petru Florescu | Carlin | 1:14.392 | 0.928 | 13 |
| 8 | James Pull | JTR | 1:14.513 | 1.049 | 13 |
| 9 | Jack Barlow | MBM | 1:14.513 | 1.049 | 11 |
| 10 | Rafa Martins | SWB Motorsport | 1:14.540 | 1.076 | 14 |
| 11 | Enaam Ahmed | Arden | 1:14.694 | 1.230 | 13 |
| 12 | Colton Herta | Carlin | 1:14.718 | 1.254 | 14 |
| 13 | Tarun Reddy | Double R | 1:14.752 | 1.288 | 13 |
| 14 | Jack Butel | SWB Motorsport | 1:14.947 | 1.483 | 14 |
| 15 | Dan Ticktum | Fortec Motorsport | 1:15.240 | 1.776 | 10 |
| 16 | Darius Karbaley | Falcon Motorsport | 1:15.368 | 1.904 | 14 |
| 17 | Josh Smith | Fortec Motorsport | 1:15.646 | 2.182 | 14 |
| 18 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | JTR | 1:15.675 | 2.211 | 13 |
| 19 | Louise Richardson | Richardson Racing | 1:15.865 | 2.401 | 11 |
| 20 | Ollie Pidgley | Richardson Racing | 1:16.335 | 2.871 | 11 |