With four events contested in two months, the first part of the French F4 Championship proved to be as intense as it was exciting. From 14th to 16th July in Italy, another challenge awaits the academicians at Misano. Evan Giltaire will be leading the way.
Every season, the FFSA Academy sets off to discover new circuits in neighbouring Europe, to enable the drivers entered in the French F4 Championship to learn about the tracks they will no doubt use during their careers. For the fifth of the seven 2023 events, we’re heading for Misano in Italy! With its 16 corners and some very fast sections, the track on the shores of the Adriatic could prove selective for the protagonists of the Championship, who come from 13 different nationalities.
Giltaire and Peugeot neck and neck
Will we see victory for an eighth driver, or will the favourites confirm their position at this summer event, which promises high temperatures? In the provisional Championship standings, two drivers have broken away and are separated by just 14 points, with a slight advantage for Evan Giltaire (four wins) over Enzo Peugeot (three wins). But three drivers are lying in wait, ready to take advantage of any slip-ups by the two Frenchmen. They are Canadian Kevin Foster, who was spotted in the Feed Racing scholarship, Frenchman Romain Andriolo and Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, grouped together on just seven points!
The drivers will benefit from a private practice session on Thursday, before the official start of the meeting, with Free Practice on Friday followed by the long-awaited and dreaded Qualifying session. In single-seaters, starting on one of the front rows of the grid gives you an undeniable advantage. The result of this session will determine the starting order for Race 1, while the best of each driver’s second laps will determine the grid for Race 3. The drivers in the top ten will also be under scrutiny, as they will start Race 2 in the reverse order of their Qualifying positions. This specific feature of the regulations means that outsiders can face up to the pressure of a place at the front of the field. Spaniard Pol Lopez, Frenchman Adrien Closmenil and American Garrett Berry have all been able to taste the top step of the podium this year.
Racing in the colours of the RACB, which has chosen the FFSA Academy in 2023 to field its representative selected by the “Road to F4” operation, Belgian Yani Stevenheydens will be aiming for his first victory in Italy. There will also be two German drivers supported by the ADAC Formula Junior Team: Max Reis and Tom Kalender. Drivers such as Enzo Richer, Edgar Pierre and Louis Schlesser will be aiming for their first podium finish. Disappointed by his performance at Spa-Francorchamps, Italian Leonardo Megna will be keeping an eye on his home track.
The race conditions at Misano, unknown to all, could give Colombian Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro, Briton Gabriel Doyle-Parfait and Frenchman Edouard Borgna the opportunity to open their Championship scoring, something already achieved by Romanians Luca Savu and Andrei Duna, Ukrainian Yaroslav Veselaho, German Finn Wiebelhaus (absent in Italy), Frenchmen Karel Schulz and Paul Alberto, and Andorran Frank Porte Ruiz.
> Misano 2023 F4 programme
Friday 14th July: Free Practice (12:20 – 12:50) and Qualifying (18:40 – 19:05)
Saturday 15th July: Race 1 (11:10 – 11:40) and Race 2 (18:50 – 19:20)
Sunday 16th July: Race 3 (11:45 – 12:15)
Provisional timetable, subject to change during the meeting.
> Race duration: 20 minutes + 1 lap
> Mygale single-seater, Renault turbo engine, Pirelli tyres, 100% renewable Repsol biofuel.
> Provisional standings after Spa-Francorchamps
1 n°95 Evan Giltaire (France) 182 pts
2 n°74 Enzo Peugeot (France) 168 pts
3 n°26 Kevin Foster (Canada) 114 pts
4 n°16 Romain Andriolo (France) 109 pts
5 n°6 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan) 107 pts
6 n°17 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) 66 pts
8 n°18 Garrett Berry (USA) 63 pts
7 n°5 Pol Lopez (Spain) 52 pts
9 n°66 Enzo Richer (France) 38 pts
10 n°3 Leonardo Megna (Italy) 31 pts
12 n°27 Edgar Pierre (France) 25 pts
11 n°14 Adrien Closmenil (France) 23 pts
17 n°11 Tom Kalender (Germany) 22 pts
13 n°61 Louis Schlesser (France) 16 pts
14 n°37 Luca Savu (Romania) 8 pts
15 n°89 Jason Leung (Canada) 8 pts
19 n°28 Max Reis (Germany) 8 pts
16 n°44 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine) 6 pts
18 n°4 Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany) 6 pts
20 n°9 Karel Schulz (France) 3 pts
25 n°10 Andrei Duna (Romania) 2 pts
21 n°7 Paul Alberto (France) 2 pts
22 n°22 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) 1 pt
23 n°77 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia)
24 n°46 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain)
26 n°2 Edouard Borgna (France)
Follow the event on the ffsaacademy.org website and on social networks.
