The AFR Championship qualifying started at 10:00 a.m. sharp on March 21, 2009. 15 FR2.0 vehicles were there on the track getting ready to make some noise in ZIC .

The weather was overcast and mixed conditions were a big challenge for the drivers throughout the day. Zhiqiang Zhang from March 3 team set a fast lap of 1:37.393 and captured the pole position. Alon Day, another young driver from March 3 team captured 2 nd and Tengyi Jiang settled 3 rd (1:38.124). The celebrity driver Aaron Kwok managed to keep his speed swinging up and qualified 10 th .

Tengyi Jiang said in the press conference after the qualifying “It's been 4 years since my last time competed in AFR, it feels familiar and very exciting to drive FR 2.0 again. The mechanics from FRD Racing team are very experienced and they took good care of my car. I would like to take this opportunity to thank FRD for providing me the opportunity to gather more on-track experience. Racing with teenage drivers like Alon and Zhiqiang Zhang is very interesting, they have impressive speed and it's very good for them to compete more in championships like AFR to gain more experience.”

Pole sitter Zhiqiang Zhang indicated that it was his first time driving in a FR 2.0 race “ the car is more powerful comparing to the cars I used to drive and I have to be very careful since not a minor mistake is allowed or I will find myself in the sand area. *laughs* Driving a formula car is my first choice, I haven't actually considered to race any other type of cars. I am very happy to capture the pole position today, it added to my confidence in driving a more powerful car like this. My teammate Alon is a fast driver, I think he would definitely set a faster laptime if the weather was better.”