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O’Keeffe and Morris share poles at Assen

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
Photo: Chris Schotanus / Formula Renault 2.0 NEC

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