Before heavy rain forced the organisers to cancel Race 2, poleman Yani Stevenheydens dominated Race 1 in the sunshine of the Gers, controlling Japan’s Taito Kato. Frenchman Jules Caranta completed the podium.
The Easter Cup confirmed what the winter tests organised by the FFSA Academy had highlighted: with 25 cars already on the grid, the 2024 French F4 Championship field is already very strong, with 12 different nationalities. In fact, it was a Belgian who won Race 1 ahead of a Japanese and a Frenchman, with seven countries represented in the top 10. In his second season in F4, Belgium’s Yani Stevenheydens made his ambitions clear, but the performances of young rookies Taito Kato and Jules Caranta augur well for an exciting season.
From pole position to victory
Managing the tyres and getting them up to temperature was one of the keys to the Qualifying session. Drawing on his experience of the 2023 season, Belgium’s Yani Stevenheydens built up power as the laps went by to take a magnificent double pole position ahead of Jules Caranta and Taito Kato. A number of drivers who were expected to be higher up the order were caught out and were keen to get back up the order in Race 1. A lot happened in the middle of the field on Easter Sunday.
At the front, things were fairly clear-cut, especially for Stevenheydens who led from start to finish. Taito got off to a better start than Caranta and immediately moved into 2nd place. Very fast, he began his comeback on the leader, but seeing the Japanese car looming in his rear-view mirrors, Stevenheydens set the fastest lap of the race and gave himself some breathing space to win by a good second. The surprise of the day came from Dylan Estre, who got off to an incredible start. 17th on the grid, he immediately moved up to 4th place and held on to his position right up to the end, following in Caranta’s footsteps.
Rayan Caretti, has a Thai license, was also one of the drivers who set a fast pace. Starting 7th, he finished an encouraging 5th. He left Canadian Jason Leung and Italian Leonardo Megna battling for 6th place, which eventually went to Megna. Karel Schulz and Jules Roussel, disappointed to have lost precious positions at the start, battled it out to open their account in the provisional Championship standings with points for 8th and 9th respectively. Luxembourg’s Chester Kieffer completed the top 10 ahead of Pacôme Weisenburger, who moved up five places. Germany’s Montego Maassen was the big loser of Race 1, as an incident prevented him from taking advantage of 5th position on the grid.
Shortly before the start of Race 2, a heavy shower fell on the Paul Armagnac circuit in Nogaro. Behind the safety car and large sprays of water, the drivers were only able to complete two laps on a completely soaked track, before race management decided to wisely bring out the red flag, giving rise to a publication of no results.
Continuation of the programme at Nogaro: Race 3, Monday 1st April from 10:45 to 11:15
> Qualifying session: 1 Stevenheydens in 1:26.088, 2 Caranta in 1:26.457, 3 Kato in 1:26.702, 4 Roussel in 1.26:781, 5 Maassen in 1:26:784, 6 Schulz v1.26:813, 7 Caretti in 1.26:835, 8 Megna in 1.26:857, 9 Leung in 1.27:001, 10 Kieffer in 1.27:043, etc.
> Race 1 standings
1 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) with 15 laps
2 Taito Kato (Japan) at 1.087
3 Jules Caranta (France) at 10.481
4 Dylan Estre (France) at 11.147
5 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) at 16.416
6 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 19.345
7 Jason Leung (Canada) at 22.546
8 Karel Schulz (France) at 23.205
9 Jules Roussel (France) at 24.592
10 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) at 25,000
11 Pacôme Weisenburger (France) at 28,570
12 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 30.716
13 Roméo Leurs (France) at 42.724
14 Louis Schlesser (France) at 43.300
15 Augustin Bernier (France) at 44.178
16 Enzo Caldaras (France) at 47.039
17 Edouard Borgna (France) at 47.436
18 Arjun Chheda (India) at 49.256
19 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) at 50.249
20 Paul Roques (France) at 56.501
21 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 58.853
22 Tom Le Brech (France) at 1:15.072
23 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) with 13 laps
24 Arthur Dorison (France) with 8 laps
25 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) with 3 laps
FL: Stevenheydens in 1:25.929 (avg. 152.3 km)
> Race 2: Cancelled
