New victory in race 3 for the Brazilian Caio Collet at Dijon.
After the victory for the Belgian Ugo De Wilde in Race 1 on Saturday, Frenchman Théo Nouet has successfully opened his French F4 Championship account by dominating Race 2. The leader of the Championship, the Brazilian Caio Collet was quick to find the road to success in the last race of the meeting organised at the Dijon-Prenois circuit.
The quality of the drivers entered in the French F4 Championship in 2018 continues to offer unpredictable and competitive races at each meeting. In Dijon, the young hopefuls had to face the high speeds of the Burgundy track, which has the particularity of putting the tyres to the test. The work and discussion with the technical team of the FFSA Academy took on vital importance.
Nouet wins solo
Sunday started with Race 2, starting according to the reversed grid for the first 10 of the previous race. Omani Shihab driver Al Habsi did not have the opportunity to enjoy his pole position for very long. Quickly overtaken by Théo Nouet, he would then drop down significantly in the rankings. For his part, Nouet was imperial. “When I took the lead from Shihab, I felt really good in the car. I put in successive very fast laps to build a solid lead, which allowed me to spare my tyres as much as I could for Race 3.”
Behind them, a fantastic duel continued until the end between the Monegasque Arthur Leclerc, the German Esteban Muth and the Brazilian Caio Collet. Leclerc resisted determinedly to keep his place in front of Muth and Collet. After setting the fastest lap in the race, Ulysse De Pauw completed the top five ahead of Théo Pourchaire, the best of the Juniors.
Another success for the championship leader
Race 3 again brought a lot of suspense and overtaking, favoured by the slipstream on the straights of Dijon. At the end of the lights, the Frenchman Adam Eteki perfectly exploited his pole position and settled solidly in front of the Belgian Ugo De Wilde, while the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Chovet missed his start and dropped from 2nd to 9th place. Soon, Caio Collet was chasing the top two. De Wilde gave way on lap 6. And three laps from the finish, he got the better of Eteki to win.
“I was disappointed with my Qualifying and I worked hard all weekend to recover. I listened to the advice of my team carefully, in addition to having changed the car positively according to very hot temperatures and tyre degradation. It’s good to win again, because I’m increasing my lead in the championship,” said the Brazilian driver.
“Collet was faster at the end of the race, I could not do anything. Overall, it was an excellent weekend with two more podiums,” said Eteki. Starting 8th, the Belgian Ulysses De Pauw also used consistent pace in this race to recover to complete the top three. In full confidence after his victory in the morning, Theo Nouet was ranked 4th, completing best meeting since the beginning of the season.
Théo Pourchaire won again in Junior, extremely well against O’Neill Muth and Shihab Al Habsi. A newcomer in 2018, Lucas Pettersson has made an interesting start in this context.
The drivers of the FIA French F4 Championship will meet at the resumption of the season, from 7th to 9th September at Magny-Cours for the fifth of the seven meetings of the year.
