Elite Motorsport's Fred Green and KMR Sport's Alex O'Grady claimed pole positions in qualifying at Snetterton, with Green topping the session outright, while O'Grady topped the second quickest leaderboard for race two.
Here's how each driver reacted at the end of the session.
Race one pole, Fred Green, Elite Motorsport
"It's fabulous, I'm quite surprised at that one to be honest, we actually struggled a bit over the testing. So I'm really grateful to come out on pole. The team did an awesome job with the car like always, and gave me the chance to get a pole position, and we did it.
"It's brilliant, obviously, for the people watching that the top two in the championship are starting next to each other for the first two races. So it adds an element of excitement to it for the fans, but I'd rather he was a bit of further back so I can get some more points! But, you know, he's a very good driver and, I'm grateful to be racing him. I think we have a lot of respect for each other and are both very good drivers. So, yeah, it's great.
"We'll race each other hard and fair if we get the chance. Hopefully in race one, I don't have to worry about any race craft and I can just get my head down and hopefully in race two I can give him something to think about."
Race two pole, Alex O'Grady, KMR Sport:
"I'm quite happy with that one. I definitely think I put the session together quite well. I did two laps that were basically identical, so I'm very happy. I didn't quite maximise the lap fully, I think there's always going to be time in it. But it's good to be on pole for a race two and on the front row for race one.
"The races should be good. All the work is done off the line really because overtaking is a challenge in these cars with the dirty air. So hopefully we can get off the line well and maybe jump them in race one as well.
"It's a shame Luke [Hilton] has gone now because he was right in there [for the championship battle], I think Enzo [Hallman] was in there at the start. He's kind of a bit further back now. So yeah, I think it's between me and Fred for the rest of the year. Hopefully we can have a good fight and hopefully there is respect between us, which there is, and we can push each other to the limit."
