An early trend has already emerged following the Easter Races at Nogaro: the 2026 FIA-certified French Formula 4 Championship promises to be extremely open and thrilling. The first three races of the season saw three different winners: pole-sitter Guillaume Bouzar in Race 1, Australian Francis Lewis in Race 2 and Matthéo Dauvergne in Race 3. Bouzar leads the Championship managed by the FFSA Academy, whilst Dutch driver Annabelle Brian has taken the lead in the new French Women’s F4 Championship.
With 32 single-seaters on the starting grid, 14 nationalities represented, 10 female drivers competing, several thousand spectators were in attendance at these Easter Races which were more popular than ever. Three intense races streamed live on ffsa.tv, constant sunshine and temperatures easily exceeding 20 degrees: the 2026 opening round of the FFSA Academy F4 lived up to its expectations.
Guillaume Bouzar converted his pole position into victory in Race 1
The event kicked off with an extremely close Qualifying session, with minimal gaps between the drivers. Guillaume Bouzar set the fastest time, just 0.076 seconds ahead of Matthéo Dauvergne. Bouzar confirmed his form by dominating Race 1 ahead of Hugo Herrouin and Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi. Initially finishing 3rd, Belgium’s Thibaut Ramaekers received a sporting penalty, whilst a technical issue forced Matthéo Dauvergne to retire.
Started under the reverse grid format for the top 10 from Qualifying, Race 2 was decided in the final laps. Having spent much of the race lurking behind Israel’s Yuval Rosen, Australia’s Lewis Francis eventually found an opening, taking Lilian Soares with him in his wake.
Race 3: Victory points for Matthéo Dauvergne
The start had a major influence on the final outcome of the race. Thibaut Ramaekers, who got off to a quicker start from the outside of the front row than Guillaume Bouzar, found himself blocked by his rival. Matthéo Dauvergne made the most of this to slip into 2nd place. During the 30-minute race, punctuated by a few safety car periods, Dauvergne tried in vain to get the better of Bouzar, despite setting the fastest lap.
For his manoeuvre on Ramaekers at the start, Bouzar was handed a five-second penalty and dropped to 3rd place. Dauvergne secured an important maiden victory ahead of Ramaekers. The remaining places were taken by the weekend’s standout drivers: Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi, Oscar Goudchaux, who pulled off a magnificent overtaking manoeuvre on Hugo Herrouin, Lilian Soares, Australia’s Lewis Francis and Israel’s Yuval Rosen. Winner of the Indian F4 Championship in 2025, Kenyan Shane Chandaria scored his first point of the meeting by finishing 10th ahead of Tom Dussol, who was fast but lacked success in the Gers.
In the women’s category, Lisa Billard dominated her rivals by taking the top step of the podium three times. Competing simultaneously in the F1 Academy, she was ineligible to score points, and it was Dutch driver Annabelle Brian who left Nogaro as the leader of the French Women’s F4 Championship, thanks in particular to her performance in Race 3, just ahead of Angelina Proenca and Héloïse Goldberg.
Finishing 3rd behind Lisa Billard and Jade Jacquet, then 2nd in Race 2 ahead of Morocco’s Sofia Zanfari, Austria’s Clara Stiebleichinger also demonstrated strong potential.
In the overall standings, Bouzar scored 43 points at Nogaro, Herrouin 30, Dauvergne 28, and two drivers are both on 27 points: Tsuchihashi and Goudchaux. These razor-thin margins set the tone for this highly promising French F4 Championship.
> Race 3 Results
1 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) in 17 laps
2 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) at 3.278
3 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 4.325
4 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) at 4.814
5 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 6.949
6 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 7.541
7 Lilian Soares (France) at 8.424
8 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 9.093
9 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 9.817
10 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 10.264
11 Tom Dussol (France) at 10.809
12 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 11.555
13 Jules Avril (France) at 15.729
14 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 16.792
15 Jimmy Helias (France) at 17.259
16 Lisa Billard (France) at 17.719 *
17 Maverick McKenna (USA) at 18.060
18 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 18.556
19 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 24.812 *
20 Angelina Proenca (France) at 27.821 *
21 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 32.551 *
22 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 32.876
23 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 43.538
24 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 1:03.812 *
25 Isabella Abreu (Cuba) at 1:18.726 *
26 Nicolas Pasquier (France) with 16 laps
27 Wojciech Woda (Poland) with 16 laps
28 Paul Gleizes (France) with 16 laps
29 Jade Jacquet (France) with 5 laps *
30 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) with 0 laps *
31 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) with 0 laps *
32 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy), did not start *
FL: Dauvergne 1:26.611 (avg. 151.1 km/h)
* Women
> Women’s Race 3
1 Lisa Billard (France)
2 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
3 Angelina Proenca (France)
4 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
5 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
6 Isabella Abreu (Cuba)
7 Jade Jacquet (France)
8 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
9 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
10 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
> Standings after Nogaro
F4 Academy: 1 Bouzar 43 pts, 2 Herrouin 30 pts, 3 Dauvergne 28 pts, 4 Tsuchihashi (JPN) 27 pts, 5 Goudchaux 27 pts, 6 Francis (AUS) 24 pts, 7 Soares 22 pts, 8 Ramaekers (BEL) 21 pts, 9 Rosen (ISR) 13 pts, 10 Helias 6 pts, 11 Chadaria (KEN) 2 pts, 12 Avril 2 pts, 13 Woda (POL) 1 pt.
Women’s F4: 1 Brian (NED) 40 pts, 2 Proenca 39 pts, 3 Stiebleichinger (AUT) 35 pts, 4 Goldberg 29 pts, 5 Zanfari (MAR) 26 pts, 6 Fisher (CAN) 22 pts, 7 Abreu (CUB) 20 pts.
Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve
