On the first day of summer, the French F4 Championship enjoyed warm, sunny weather at Spa Francorchamps. Roussel celebrated his first ever victory by winning Race 1, before handing over his place at the top of the podium to Dorison in Race 2.
Following Hugo Herrouin’s fastest time in Free Practice on Friday morning, Jules Roussel waited until the end of the Qualifying session to improve on Alex Munoz’s previous fastest time and achieve the first pole position of his career in the afternoon. Japan’s Rintaro Sato also kept the suspense going, before getting the better of Germany’s Montego Maassen and Hugo Herrouin in extremis to take 3rd place on the grid for Race 1. On Saturday, the battle between the 30 FFSA Academy drivers continued in the first two races of the meeting, contested in temperatures approaching 30°C…
Race 1: Jules Roussel wins a lively race
After starting from pole position, Jules Roussel did not have an easy race, with several position changes in the opening laps and neutralisations behind the safety car which constantly put him under pressure from his rivals. The young French hopeful had to draw on his mental resources to win, while also demonstrating his competitiveness by setting the fastest lap of the race. Japan’s Rintaro Sato and Alex Munoz got off to a good start and managed to sneak into the lead, before Roussel showed his superiority in the race. After his four 2nd places at the start of the season, Jules was clearly hungry for success! But there were also duels for the podium and places of honour. Germany’s Montego Maassen got the better of Sato and Munoz for 2nd place. Although the Japanese driver had a difficult end to the race, which saw him fall to 8th, Munoz secured important points for the Championship by completing the podium.
At the very end of the race, Hugo Herrouin overtook Louis Iglesias to take 4th place after a neck-and-neck battle that lasted from the first to the last lap. A final touch between Arthur Dorison and Rayan Caretti deprived the latter of a top 10 finish. Guillaume Bouzar had already got the better of these two drivers and, after a solid performance, he reached the finish in 6th position ahead of Dorison. Thomas Senecloze and Pablo Riccobono Bello continued to make progress in the Championship, gaining nine and six places respectively to move into the top 10. Race 1 was marred by a number of incidents, including the elimination of Mattéo Giaccardi from 6th position.
Race 2: Dorison wins despite Caretti and Bouzar
With an inverted grid for the top 10 finishers in Qualifying, Guillaume Bouzar took pole position and made no mistakes in taking the lead at the La Source bend. Behind him, a lively duel began between Rayan Caretti, Arthur Dorison, Louis Iglesias and Rintaro Sato, who got off to an excellent start. Alex Munoz and Jules Roussel, who at this stage appeared to be the two strongest men in the Championship, immediately gained a few places and moved into the top eight. Ahead of them, Montego Maassen and Mattéo Giaccardi were locked in an intense neck-and-neck battle, watched by Hugo Herrouin.
As the laps went by, Bouzar was in perfect control of the situation at the front, while the positions continued to change steadily behind him. At the halfway point, a tangle between Sato and Herrouin led to the safety car coming out. When the green flag flew, the battle for the lead intensified once again, with a lot of pressure on the shoulders of the leader. Finally, after a magnificent double pass at Les Combes, Dorison took the lead ahead of Caretti and Bouzar. A true Race 2 specialist, Dorison scored his 3rd win of the season, following on from his successes in Nogaro and Dijon, while also scoring the fastest lap. Munoz and Roussel completed their superb comeback in 4th and 5th place ahead of Maassen, Iglesias and Giaccardi. Lacking success in Race 1, Andy Consani and Roméo Leurs this time finished in the top 10.
A double victory for Lisa Billard in the women’s race
Lisa Billard, who came 11th in Race 1, came very close again to finishing in the points at Spa Francorchamps. Against her female rivals, she dominated the situation in both races. Jade Jacquet and Angelina Proenca flanked her in that order on the podium in Race 1. In the afternoon, Héloïse Goldberg celebrated her first top three in her category in Race 2, which again saw Billard and Jacquet on the top two steps.
Continuation of the programme at Spa Francorchamps: Race 3 and podium, Sunday 22nd June from 10:35 to 12:20
> Qualifying session: 1 Roussel 2:22.560, 2 Munoz 2:22.623, 3 Sato 2:22.763, 4 Maassen 2:22.812, 5 Herrouin 2:23.975, 6 Giaccardi 2:23.986, 7 Iglesias 2:23.021, 8 Dorison 2:23.061, 9 Caretti 2:23.068, 10 Bouzar 2:23.181, etc.
> Race 1 standings
1 Jules Roussel (France) with 10 laps
2 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 0.786
3 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 1.372
4 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 2.378
5 Louis Iglesias (France) at 3.379
6 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 4.223
7 Arthur Dorison (France) at 5.464
8 Rintaro Sato (Japan) at 6.223
9 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 7.420
10 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) at 7.942
11 (F-P1) Lisa Billard (France) at 8.944
12 Pierre Devos (France) at 10.045
13 Paul Roques (France) at 10.756
14 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 11.436
15 Rayan Caretti (France) at 13.673
16 (F-P2) Jade Jacquet (France) at 14.901
17 (F-P3) Angelina Proenca (France) at 15.167
18 (F-P4) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 15.756
19 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) at 16.421
20 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) at 16.837
21 (F-P5) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 17.347
22 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) at 17.509
23 Malo Bolliet (France) with 9 laps
24 Roméo Leurs (France) with 8 laps
25 Rafaël Perard (France) with 6 laps
26 Andy Consani (France) with 5 laps
27 (F-P6) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) with 2 laps
28 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) with 2 laps
29 Hugo Martiniello (France) with 1 lap
30 Zhelin Shen (China) with 1 lap
Best lap: Roussel in 2:23.509 (avg. 175.6 km/h)
> Race 2 standings
1 Arthur Dorison (France) with 12 laps
2 Rayan Caretti (France) at 0.477
3 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 0.780
4 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 1.569
5 Jules Roussel (France) at 3.060
6 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 5.452
7 Louis Iglesias (France) at 5.943
8 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) at 6.497
9 Andy Consani (France) at 6.963
10 Roméo Leurs (France) at 9.409
11 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) at 9.843
12 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 11.397
13 Pierre Devos (France) at 12.141
14 Malo Bolliet (France) at 13.318
15 (F-P1) Lisa Billard (France) at 13.618
16 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) at 14.045
17 (F-P2) Jade Jacquet (France) at 16.772
18 Hugo Martiniello (France) at 17.135
19 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 23.664
20 Zhelin Shen (China) at 26.380
21 (F-P3) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 29.233
22 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) at 30.898
23 (F-P4) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 41.537
24 Rafaël Perard (France) at 43.975
25 Paul Roques (France) at 46.027
26 (F-P5) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 48.772
27 (F-P6) Angelina Proenca (France) with 10 laps
28 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) with 7 laps
29 Rintaro Sato (Japan) with 5 laps
30 Hugo Herrouin (France) with 5 laps
Best lap: Dorison in 2:23.796 (avg. 175.3 km/h)
(F): Women
