TIO Ellinas of Cyprus bagged pole position for both of today’s races in round two of the 2013 MRF Challenge, being held as part of the Six Hours of Bahrain weekend at Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir.

Ellinas clocked a fastest lap of two minutes 02.960 seconds during yesterday’s qualifying session to take the leading starting position for race one.

Each participating driver’s second fastest lap then determined the grid for race two, and Ellinas was once again on top of the timesheet with a second fastest time of 2:02.983.

For race one, Frenchman Arthur Pic will be alongside Ellinas on the front row. Pic qualified second with a best lap 0.364s slower than the leader’s. Briton Rupert Svendsen-Cook (+0.591s) and Japan’s Shinya Michimi (+0.885s) made up row two, while British pair Harry Tincknell (+0.924s) and Sam Brabham (+1.190s) will line up on the third row.

A total of 20 drivers took part in yesterday’s qualifying.

Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Rashid Al Khalifa qualified 11th for the first race with a fastest lap 3.096s slower than Ellinas. Countryman and fellow homegrown talent Abdulla Al Thawadi will classified 16th after finishing 4.233s adrift.

For race two, the grid remained virtually unchanged, with Ellinas and Pic leading the way. Shaikh Salman was again 11th and Al Thawadi 16th. Race one is scheduled to flag off at 2.50pm, while race two will get underway at 5pm.