Under the bright lights of Singapore, Maya Weug secured pole position, followed by Doriane Pin and Chloe Chambers in the F1 Academy qualifying session.
Weug took the all-important two points for achieving pole, closing the 20-point gap to her championship rival, Pin.
The conditions in Singapore present a significant challenge for the drivers, with the heat and humidity being the highest of any F1 Academy race.
The narrow streets of Marina Bay mean that mistakes are heavily penalised, and a successful qualifying session requires a gradual buildup in performance.
As drivers embarked on their maiden push laps, Alisha Palmoski made contact with the wall in the first sector, bringing out a yellow flag.
Ella Lloyd, Lisa Billard, Nicole Havrda and Emma Felbermayr all managed to get in their push laps unhindered by the yellow flag. However, before any other drivers could cross the line, a red flag was brought out.
Session restarted
Palmoski was cleared from the track, and the grid funnelled their way back out onto the circuit. Doriane Pin led the charge in the opening stages of the restart, crossing the line with a 2:03.885s.
However, Chloe Chambers was going faster as she darted round the tight corners of Marina Bay, taking provisional pole from the Mercedes Junior, with a time of 2:03.761s.
Billard was making an impressive display, the wild card entry putting her F1 Academy car in third in the first half of the session.
Lloyd had a close moment with the wall but managed to recover to hold onto fourth place, with Maya Weug in fifth.
Weug needs to close the gap to Pin in Singapore to keep her championship hopes alive heading into the final round of the season in Abu Dhabi. However, Pin was determined not to make it easy for her rivals.
Pin failed to improve on her second push lap, while further back, Weug was putting in a purple middle sector. Weug crossed the line to go second, just 0.014s behind Chambers and moving ahead of Pin.
However, the Frenchwoman was ready to make another fight for pole, as Pin went faster in the early stages of her lap. Yet, as she crossed the line, she only managed third place.
Weug was struggling in the first part of the lap, a yellow opening sector, but as she went into the final stage of the lap, she was up nearly four tenths on her main title rival.
The FDA driver crossed the line to take provisional pole with a 2:03.453, an impressive 0.189s ahead of Chambers in second.
Final dash for pole
Pin was down 0.7s in her final flying lap, pushing to make the line and have a final opportunity to fight for pole. She just reached the line in time, as Weug and Chambers both failed to improve as they took the chequered flag.
The opening stages of Pin’s lap were competitive, but her tyres were struggling. She took a personal best in the middle sector, unable to beat Weug but able to move into second ahead of Chambers.
Making it back-to-back pole positions for Weug with Pin alongside her, and Chambers and Lloyd making up the second row.
Billard, in her first appearance, qualified fifth, making her the first wildcard entry to make it into the top 8.
Lia Bock will start on pole position for Race 1, with Aurelia Nobles lining up alongside her.
READ MORE – Maya Weug storms to F1 Academy Race 2 victory at Zandvoort to boost title bid
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