But the Irish driver, who placed only runner-up in two Philippine legs earlier this year despite emerging on top of the grid, is betting he saved his best effort for last.
OHaras time of one minute and 23.95 seconds in the 12th lap put the Shell Kinetic driver at pole position ahead of Australian Christian Jones (one minute and 13.6 seconds) and Indonesian Ananda Mikola (one minute and 97 seconds).
Tyson Sy, the AF3 prodigy, was the only Filipino in the top five. His time of one minute and 25.01 seconds put him at fourth in the Class A race today at the Batangas Racing Circuit (BRC).
But Sys time was good for No.1 in the promotions class in this season-ending AF3 leg.
Round Nine is scheduled to begin at 10:40 a.m. and the final round is set at 2:40.
Sy actually still had a chance to get past Mikola, a first-time driver at the BRC, but the teenage racing sensation eventually trailed the Indonesian by four-tenths of a second.
"Dinikitan ko talaga sya ng husto kaya lang talagang umarangkada sya nung una," Sy said. "Medyo imposible na ring makahabol pero I believe anything can still happen. Susubukan ko talagang maging consistent [today], avoid any kind of accidents early to have a chance."
Sy, driving for Castrol Team Goddard-Minardi Team Asia, has accumulated 36 points over the last four stops.
He is tied with fellow Filipino Pepon Marave of Shell Kinetic F3.
Sy trails countryman Enzo Pastor of Fujitsu Ten Toyota Team TOMs in the race for top driver in the promotions class, or chassis built 1998 or prior.
Pastor owns 58 points.
OHara currently leads all drivers for the AF3 Driver of the Year.
But in six rounds against Jones, whose 108 points trails OHaras 111, the Irishman finished faster than Jones only once.
Not including the fifth round in Beijing, Jones emerged No.1 four times. The Australian swept the first four rounds in the opening stop in Batangas and the following leg in Subic.
Asked how that will affect his psyche tomorrow, OHara said he felt more confident now.
"Im better off now than in the first time I came here," OHara said. "Its not that Im going to lose sleep tonight. Ive made mistakes the first time and
Ill do my best not to make them again."
Mikola, his countrys top driver who spent most of the year touring Europe, is racing in the country for the first time.
But the Indonesian didnt look like it yesterday, negotiating the BRC with relative ease.
"I guess in races like this, you dont want to look stupid," Mikola smiled. "When you come to join any race, your goal is to win regardless if youre there the first time or not."
Mikolas brother, Moreno Soeprapto, finished 10th overall but third in the promotions class.
British teenager Oliver Turvey, also a debuting Batangas driver, placed fifth in the qualifiers and second behind Sy in the promotions division.