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.
O’Hara’s 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 Sy’s 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 s’ya ng husto kaya lang talagang umarangkada s’ya nu’ng 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 TOM’s in the race for top driver in the promotions class, or chassis built 1998 or prior.
Pastor owns 58 points.
O’Hara currently leads all drivers for the AF3 Driver of the Year.
But in six rounds against Jones, whose 108 points trails O’Hara’s 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, O’Hara said he felt more confident now.
"I’m better off now than in the first time I came here," O’Hara said. "It’s not that I’m going to lose sleep tonight. I’ve made mistakes the first time and
I’ll do my best not to make them again."
Mikola, his country’s top driver who spent most of the year touring Europe, is racing in the country for the first time.
But the Indonesian didn’t look like it yesterday, negotiating the BRC with relative ease.
"I guess in races like this, you don’t want to look stupid," Mikola smiled. "When you come to join any race, your goal is to win regardless if you’re there the first time or not."
Mikola’s 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.