The FIA French F4 Championship had an eventful Saturday with setbacks experienced by many title contenders and undisputed success for rookie Elliott Vayron. Macéo Capietto took advantage of this to make the most of the day…
While the majority of the drivers were taking part in their fifth race since the beginning of the season and some of them are repeaters in the discipline, Elliott Vayron succeeded with a masterly victory on his second attempt in F4. On the Monza circuit, whose fast track favours the phenomenon of slipstreaming and overtaking, Saturday began with pole position for Macéo Capietto in difficult conditions, as he tells us…
“The Qualifying session was complicated, with two red flags interrupting our momentum. It all came down to the end of the session and I was able to put in a great lap at the last minute to take pole.” The 18 hundredths separating the top five once again demonstrated the standard of the FFSA Academy Championship.
Macéo Capietto takes maximum points
As expected, Race 1, which took place a few hours later, was not lacking in excitement. On the first lap, Australian Hugh Barter had a problem after starting in 2nd position. An exciting battle ensued between Macéo Capietto, Elliott Vayron and Daniel Ligier, watched by Noah Andy, who made an excellent start. On the fourth lap, Ligier took over from Capietto in the lead of the race. By delaying their braking, the two drivers lost some time shortly before the halfway point and let Elliot Vayron slip away. He was happy to be in the lead and managed the last few laps perfectly, despite the pressure exerted by Capietto at the end of the race, confirmed by a fastest lap.
“It’s great to win on this legendary circuit of Monza,” said Elliott, who will take part in the last races of the season. “The start was a bit of a battle and the first few laps were very competitive. Along with Macéo Capietto and Daniel Ligier, we were able to distance ourselves from the rest of the field and the race finally went in my favour. The last few minutes were intense with Macéo, it reminded me of our beginnings in karting where we competed against each other for several years.”
First success for Enzo Geraci in F4 Junior
Daniel Ligier ended up in 3rd place and took his sixth podium of the season, while Owen Tangavelou was the showman in the field. Starting 10th, he quickly got the better of Swiss driver Dario Cabanelas, Esteban Masson and Pierre-Alexandre Provost, before overtaking Noah Andy and Gaël Julien to take 4th place.
Enzo Geraci could also be happy with his performance. The young driver from the south of France managed to find his feet on the Monza track, to the point of transforming his 14th place on the starting grid into 6th on the finishing line! A position which above all offers him a first success in Junior. Back in F4 after a promising first attempt in July in Budapest, Enzo Richer finished 7th ahead of Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Noah Andy, both of whom were penalised by 30 seconds by the stewards. The two leaders of the Junior Championship, Dario Cabanelas and Alessandro Giusti, didn’t have the expected success. It was a pity for the latter who started in 5th position, after having stealthily occupied the best provisional time in Qualifying!
Already disappointed with his 8th position in Timed Practice, Esteban Masson was forced to retire on lap 6 following a race incident. The only woman in the field, Angelina Favario celebrated her first top 10 finish, which gave her pole position for Race 2 on Sunday morning. Alessandro Giusti will start Race 3 on pole ahead of Macéo Capietto and Hugh Barter, having set the fastest of the second best laps in Qualifying. For his F4 debut, Romain Andriolo did not have the chance to take the chequered flag.
Continuation of the programme at Monza: Sunday 26th September, Race 2 (10:45 – 11:15) and Race 3 (16:55 – 17:25)
Qualifying session standings *
1 (3) Macéo Capietto (France) 1’56″300
2 (2) Hugh Barter (Australia) 1’56″428
3 (8) Elliott Vayron (France) 1’56″446
4 (4) Daniel Ligier (France) 1’56″486
5 (10) Alessandro Giusti (France) 1’56″489
6 (5) Gaël Julien (France) 1’56″609
7 (7) Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) 1’56″673
8 (6) Esteban Masson (France) 1’56″747
9 (10) Noah Andy (France) 1’56″988
10 (13) Owen Tangavelou (France) 1’57″323
11 (9) Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) 1’57″340
12 (11) Enzo Richer (France) 1’57″449
13 (12) Romain Andriolo (France) 1’57″538
14 (14) Enzo Geraci (France) 1’58″042
15 (15) Angélina Favario (France) 1’59″935
* In brackets, classification of the second fastest laps
Race 1 ranking
1 Elliott Vayron (France) with 12 laps
2 Macéo Capietto (France) at 0″353
3 Daniel Ligier (France) at 7″805
4 Owen Tangavelou (France) at 12″737
5 Gaël Julien (France) at 13″148
6 Enzo Geraci (France) at 15″292, 1st Junior
7 Enzo Richer (France) at 23″810
8 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 48″417, 2nd Junior
9 Noah Andy (France) at 49″003
10 Angélina Favario (France) at 1’35″990
11 Alessandro Giusti (France) at 1 lap, 3rd Junior
12 Romain Andriolo (France) at 3 laps
13 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) 4 laps down, 4th Junior
14 Esteban Masson (France) at 7 laps
15 Hugh Barter (Australia) at 9 laps
Best lap: Macéo Capietto in 1’56″083 (avg. 179,6 kmh)
