Laurens Vanthoor set pole position in Team WRT's Audi R8 LMS for the FIA GT1 World Championship finale at Donington Park.
The Belgian lapped the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit in 1m27.746s, 0.124s faster than Fred Makowiecki's Hexis-run McLaren.
That means Vanthoor's teammate, World GT1 debutante Adam Caroll, will start this afternoon's qualifying race from pole, with Makowiecki's partner Stef Dusseldorp alongside.
"It's the last race of the season, and our first pole," said Vanthoor. "There was nothing to complain about, I'm pretty happy."
Carroll added: "I was P2 in my group, and I was pleased with my lap. We've got to try and win it now."
In the title fight, Munnich Mercedes SLS duo Marc Basseng/Markus Winkelhock come into the final round with a one-point lead over the Vita4One BMW Z4 of Michael Bartels/Yelmer Buurman, but their qualifying effort turned sour in Q2.
Winkelhock spun no less than three times, once at Redgate and twice at the Old Hairpin. His best time was almost three-tenths off that required to progress to Q3, the top-eight shootout, and the pair will start from 10th.
Rivals Bartels/Buurman fared a little better, making it into Q3 but only qualifying seventh. Bartels suffered a brief off in the effectively-pointless Q1 session at the Old Hairpin, filling his radiator grille with grass, and could only manage a lap 0.783s off pole when it mattered in Q3.
Hexis McLaren duo Makowiecki and Dusseldorp only have a mathematical chance of the title, coming in 32 points adrift.
"It's not really likely," said Dusseldorp of their title hopes, "but we'll try and win both races and see what happens."
Peter Kox qualified third in the Reiter Lamborghini he shares with Stefan Rosina, ahead of Filip Salaquarda/Marco Cioci (Ferrari 458) and the second Munnich Merc of Nicky Pastorelli/Thomas Jager.