Photo: Chris Schotanus / Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Lotus junior Callan O’Keeffe took pole for the first race of the FR2.0 NEC weekend at Assen, while Caterham Racing Academy man Seb Morris topped qualifying for race two.
O’Keeffe’s session one benchmark came with five minutes and netted the South African his first pole in Formula Renault racing.
Championship frontrunner Louis Deletraz was a close second, while another contender Ben Barnicoat posted the third-quickest lap but will only start eighth due to a five-place grid penalty for overtaking under yellows.
His teammate Morris inherited third, with Gustav Malja promoted to row two alongside him.
Alex Albon and Ryan Tveter will start on row three – with Tveter inheriting sixth due to a three-place penalty for practice pacesetter Matthew Graham.
Ukyo Sasahara will lead Barnicoat on row four, while AVF teammates Josef Zaruba and Graham make up row five.
Morris was the only driver to go below 1:36s in qualifying, doing so in the second session, with his benchmark lap almost immediately followed by a red flag.
Although the session was restarted afterwards, the improvements were few and far between, which allowed Morris to comfortably keep pole.
His teammate Barnicoat will join him on front row, with Deletraz and Sasahara on row two.
Stefan Riener will line up in fifth, ahead of Malja, O’Keeffe and Tveter.
Albon and Graham make up the rest of the top ten.
Points leader Steijn Schothorst had a tough time in qualifying – he was 13th in session one but will start 16th due to a penalty, while session two saw him take 11th.
Combined qualifying results
| Qualifying 1 | Qualifying 2 | ||||||
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Callan O’Keeffe | ART Junior Team | 1:36.692 | 1 | Seb Morris | Fortec Motorsports | 1:35.701 |
| 2 | Louis Deletraz | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:36.717 | 2 | Ben Barnicoat | Fortec Motorsports | 1:36.187 |
| 3 | Seb Morris | Fortec Motorsports | 1:36.987 | 3 | Louis Deletraz | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:36.372 |
| 4 | Gustav Malja | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:37.095 | 4 | Ukyo Sasahara | Euronova Racing | 1:36.429 |
| 5 | Alexander Albon | KTR | 1:37.096 | 5 | Stefan Riener | Speedfish-Racing | 1:36.450 |
| 6 | Ryan Tveter | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:37.200 | 6 | Gustav Malja | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:36.468 |
| 7 | Ukyo Sasahara | Euronova Racing | 1:37.239 | 7 | Callan O’Keeffe | ART Junior Team | 1:36.485 |
| 8 | Ben Barnicoat** | Fortec Motorsports | 1:36.894 | 8 | Ryan Tveter | Josef Kaufmann Racing | 1:36.526 |
| 9 | Josef Zaruba | AVF | 1:37.296 | 9 | Alexander Albon | KTR | 1:36.556 |
| 10 | Matthew Graham* | AVF | 1:37.128 | 10 | Matthew Graham | AVF | 1:36.643 |
| 11 | Gregor Ramsay | KTR | 1:37.375 | 11 | Steijn Schothorst | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:36.812 |
| 12 | Stefan Riener | Speedfish-Racing | 1:37.376 | 12 | Martin Kodric | Fortec Motorsports | 1:36.881 |
| 13 | Jules Gounon | AVF | 1:37.738 | 13 | Jules Gounon | AVF | 1:36.984 |
| 14 | Roy Geerts | AVF | 1:37.757 | 14 | Raoul Owens | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:37.004 |
| 15 | Raoul Owens | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:37.849 | 15 | Jake Hughes | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:37.063 |
| 16 | Steijn Schothorst* | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:37.424 | 16 | Gregor Ramsay | KTR | 1:37.210 |
| 17 | Jake Hughes | Mark Burdett Motorsport | 1:37.857 | 17 | Roy Geerts | AVF | 1:37.323 |
| 18 | Robin Hansson | Fragus BR Motorsport | 1:38.113 | 18 | Josef Zaruba | AVF | 1:37.352 |
| 19 | Julio Moreno | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:38.172 | 19 | Robin Hansson | Fragus BR Motorsport | 1:37.503 |
| 20 | Martin Kodric | Fortec Motorsports | 1:38.182 | 20 | Julio Moreno | Manor MP Motorsport | 1:37.920 |
| 21 | Philip Hamprecht | Inter Europol | 1:38.987 | 21 | Philip Hamprecht | Inter Europol | 1:38.597 |
| 22 | Michele La Rosa | Euronova Racing | 1:41.660 | 22 | Inigo Bikuna | AVF | 1:38.663 |
| 23 | Harri Salminen | PositiOne Motorsport | 1:42.045 | 23 | Harri Salminen | PositiOne Motorsport | 1:40.417 |
| 24 | Inigo Bikuna* | AVF | 1:40.294 | 24 | Michele La Rosa | Euronova Racing | 1:41.970 |