Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Karting prodigy Ben Barnicoat celebrated his debut in cars by topping both qualifying sessions in the Protyre Formula Renault Autumn Cup at Rockingham and taking the pole for all three races.
Racing Steps Foundation-backed Barnicoat beat another British karting graduate, Alex Gill – who already sampled the Formula Renault car at Silverstone in the season finale of Protyre Formula Renault – by less then three tenths.
Brazilian youngster Pietro Fittipaldi took third, while Martin Kodric, another newcomer to cars, finished fourth. Asian drivers Hongwei Cao and Yosuke Yamazaki completed the field.
In the second session, Barnicoat succeeded once again, with the same gap, only this time Fittipaldi was able to edge Gill out for second. The rest of the field remained unchanged as Kodric, Cao and Yamazaki took fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Ben Barnicoat | Fortec Motorsport | 1:18.100 | 9 | |
| 2 | Alex Gill | MGR Motorsport | 1:18.382 | 0.282 | 10 |
| 3 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Jamun Racing Services | 1:18.697 | 0.597 | 9 |
| 4 | Martin Kodric | Fortec Motorsport | 1:18.976 | 0.876 | 8 |
| 5 | Hongwei Cao | Fortec Motorsport | 1:19.103 | 1.003 | 10 |
| 6 | Yosuke Yamazaki | Fortec Motorsport | 1:19.692 | 1.592 | 10 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Ben Barnicoat | Fortec Motorsport | 1:17.663 | 8 | |
| 2 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Jamun Racing Services | 1:17.917 | 0.254 | 10 |
| 3 | Alex Gill | MGR Motorsport | 1:17.952 | 0.289 | 10 |
| 4 | Martin Kodric | Fortec Motorsport | 1:18.090 | 0.427 | 9 |
| 5 | Hongwei Cao | Fortec Motorsport | 1:18.551 | 0.888 | 9 |
| 6 | Yosuke Yamazaki | Fortec Motorsport | 1:19.012 | 1.349 | 10 |