Adam Carroll boosted Ireland's chances of winning the A1GP title this weekend by taking pole position for Sunday's sprint race at Brands Hatch.
The former GP2 race winner put in a spectacular lap in the second segment of qualifying, as he topped the timesheet despite not using his power boost.
Salvador Duran put Mexico on the front row thanks to using his boost, which put him ahead of free practice pace setter Jeroen Bleekemolen for the Netherlands who, like Carroll, opted to save his one lap of boost for feature race qualifying.
Several more cars behind Bleekemolen also used their power boost, and Team USA rookie JR Hildebrand led the chasing pack as he gave the Andretti-Green-run squad its best qualifying result of the season with fourth place.
Portugal made the top five as it bids to snatch the title away from leaders Switzerland and Ireland, while Earl Bamber took sixth for New Zealand.
Behind India in seventh, Neel Jani's tough weekend continued and he could only manage eighth place without the benefit of power boost. One of the stars of the session will line up behind the defending champion, as Indonesia used its power boost to take ninth place with Satrio Hermanto.
Hermanto may have been slightly responsible for so many teams choosing to use their power boost for the sprint race sessions, as he went out early and initially put his car on the front row of the grid.
Team Great Britain's fortunes seemed set to change after Q1 when Dan Clarke put the home team third. However, he was the only driver not to improve in Q2, which dropped him down to 13th place.
Times to follow