Roberto Streit produced an impressive performance in qualifying at Macau to secure a place on the second row of the grid for the qualification race in the Chinese enclave.

The 24-year-old Formula Nippon racer, tackling the event for the third time, posted the fifth quickest time late in the session but with Sam Bird forced to take a three-place grid penalty, was lifted up to fourth for the vital qualification race which will decide the grid for the main event on Sunday.

"I'm pleased with our efforts, it's good for me and for Raikkonen Robertson Racing," he said. "We made some changes in the final red flag period, and the car was just perfect afterwards – the balance felt great and I was able to push.

"I think if we'd had a little more time we could have found a bit more in the car, so I think we're going to be in good shape tomorrow."

For the other two Double R drivers, the session turned out to be a difficult affair as Atte Mustonen had to settle for 26th place after hitting the wall and local driver Michael Ho could only manage 29th.

"Once again Roberto did a fantastic job," team principal Anthony Hieatt. "Today's qualifying session was something of a lottery and with two red flags in the final stages it was very hard to get the best out of the car and the track.

"Atte was unlucky, he looked like he was making good progress when he hit the wall, which then really compromised his weekend. There's a long way to go yet though, and I'm confident we will get some good results tomorrow."