Valentin Moineault (Photo: Auto Sport Academy)
Mexican Axel Matus and Frenchman Valentin Moineault took pole positions for the Le Mans round of Auto Sport Academy’s F4 series.
In wet conditions, pre-season favorite Moineault led the qualifying session at the checkered flag and looked set to claim double pole.
But Matus, a fellow returnee from 2014, was among the few to improve as the session expired and secured race three pole by just 0.03s.
Moineault retained second and will start the weekend opener from first based on second-best times.
Alexey Korneev‘s best effort placed him third, a tenth off the leading duo. Ledenon race winner Sacha Fenestraz and fellow Frenchman Julien Darras rounded out the top five.
Korneev’s compatriots Nikita Troitskiy and Nerses Isaakyan were sixth and eighth respectively, split by Reuben Kressner. Championship leader Giuliano Alesi was only ninth after leading practice, with Yifei Ye in tenth.
Meanwhile, Moineault will be joined on front row by Korneev for race one, with Darras and Matus on row two.
Fenestraz, Isaakyan, Troitskiy, Kressner, Alesi and Ye make up the top ten.
Qualifying results
| Race 1 | Race 3 | ||||
| Pos. | Driver | Time | Pos. | Driver | Time |
| 1 | Valentin Moineault | 2:19.145 | 1 | Axel Matus | 1:59.892 |
| 2 | Alexey Korneev | 2:00.276 | 2 | Valentin Moineault | 1:59.922 |
| 3 | Julien Darras | 2:00.491 | 3 | Alexey Korneev | 2:00.004 |
| 4 | Axel Matus | 2:00.595 | 4 | Sacha Fenestraz | 2:00.268 |
| 5 | Sacha Fenestraz | 2:00.709 | 5 | Julien Darras | 2:00.444 |
| 6 | Nerses Isaakyan | 2:00.773 | 6 | Nikita Troitskiy | 2:00.507 |
| 7 | Nikita Troitskiy | 2:00.906 | 7 | Reuben Kressner | 2:00.758 |
| 8 | Reuben Kressner | 2:00.984 | 8 | Nerses Isaakyan | 2:00.766 |
| 9 | Giuliano Alesi | 2:00.990 | 9 | Giuliano Alesi | 2:00.908 |
| 10 | Ye Yifei | 2:01.035 | 10 | Ye Yifei | 2:00.992 |
| 11 | Kami Laliberte | 2:01.503 | 11 | Kami Laliberte | 2:01.480 |
| 12 | Simo Laaksonen | 2:01.548 | 12 | Simo Laaksonen | 2:01.526 |
| 13 | Louis Gachot | 2:02.528 | 13 | Louis Gachot | 2:02.163 |
| 14 | Theophile Senegas | 2:03.331 | 14 | Theophile Senegas | 2:02.958 |
| 15 | Gabriel Aubry | 2:03.457 | 15 | Gabriel Aubry | 2:03.204 |
| 16 | Michael Benyahia | 2:04.329 | 16 | Michael Benyahia | 2:03.399 |
| 17 | Julien Andlauer | 2:04.415 | 17 | Julien Andlauer | 2:03.569 |
| 18 | Hugo Sugnot-Darniche | 2:05.714 | 18 | Hugo Sugnot-Darniche | 2:05.693 |
| 19 | Jose Sierra | 2:19.145 | 19 | Jose Sierra | 2:15.143 |