The 32 drivers in the French F4 Championship faced changing track conditions at Dijon during the Qualifying session, which inevitably had a significant impact on both of Saturday’s races. In the first race, Guillaume Bouzar converted his pole position into a deserved victory after leading from start to finish. In Race 2, Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers showed great fighting spirit to take the win.
Rain made an appearance on Friday afternoon at the Dijon-Prenois circuit, forcing the FFSA Academy mechanics to fit the F4 cars with wet tyres as the drivers prepared for Qualifying. The early minutes saw the order change regularly, but the session took a new turn as the racing line began to dry out and incidents led to red flags. From then on, it all came down to the final moments. Guillaume Bouzar handled the changing track conditions perfectly to secure a one-two finish ahead of Lilian Soares.
Tom Dussol, Hugo Herrouin and American Jack Iliffe fared well, but not everyone was so fortunate. Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers managed just one good lap, whilst Matthéo Dauvergne, one of the winners at Nogaro, plummeted to the bottom of the standings. In the women’s category, Italy’s Ginevra Panzeri, Austria’s Clara Stiebleichinger and Angelina Proenca secured places in the top 10 in at least one of the three races at the meeting.
Race 1: Guillaume Bouzar dominates from start to finish
The FFSA Academy drivers enjoyed dry conditions during the two races scheduled for Saturday. In the first race, Guillaume Bouzar dominated his rivals, managing his start perfectly and handling the two consecutive restarts following two incidents that forced the safety car onto the track. Behind him, a magnificent battle unfolded between Lilian Soares, Hugo Herrouin and the Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers, following Arthur Eschalier’s loss of positions after starting from 3rd place. In the final stages of the race, Herrouin overtook both his rivals to finish 2nd on the podium ahead of Ramaekers and Soares.
Having been unable to take part in the opening round at Nogaro, Italy’s Ginevra Panzeri demonstrated her talent by climbing to 6th place behind a solid Jack Iliffe after a final overtaking manoeuvre on Eschalier. Jules Avril, the American Maverick McKenna and Jimmy Helias rounded out the top 10. Stuck in 5th place on the starting grid, Tom Dussol then staged a spectacular comeback, climbing more than 15 places. Oscar Goudchaux was forced to retire whilst battling for 6th place. Jade Jacquet finished as the 2nd-placed female driver ahead of Angelina Proenca, Clara Stiebleichinger and Sofia Zanfari.
Race 2: First victory for Thibaut Ramaekers
The reverse grid for the top 10 from Qualifying saw Oscar Goudchaux take pole position with Ginevra Panzeri alongside him. Under successive pressure from Iliffe and Ramaekers, he eventually succumbed to his rivals. Iliffe managed to complete five laps in the lead, but was unable to prevent Ramaekers from taking the lead for good with the fastest lap. With a strong finish, Jules Avril claimed 3rd place on the podium, relegating Goudchaux to 4th. Two of the title contenders followed, with Hugo Herrouin in 5th ahead of Guillaume Bouzar.
Behind them, Panzeri confirmed her brilliance, securing a second victory in the women’s race, this time ahead of Lisa Billard – who was forced to retire in Race 1 – Jade Jacquet, the Moroccan Sofia Zanfari and the Dutch driver Annabelle Brian. In 8th place, Nicolas Pasquier claimed the final point up for grabs in this race after getting the better of Soares on the last lap. It was a disappointment for Dussol, who was forced to retire whilst sitting 5th at the halfway stage. Dauvergne fought his way back from 29th to 12th place with an excellent pace in a race that saw no major incidents requiring the safety car to be deployed.
> Qualifying session: 1 Bouzar 1:27.041, 2 Soares 1:27.243, 3 Eschalier 1:27.413, 4 Ramaekers 1:27.447, 5 Dussol 1:27.591, 6 Herrouin 1:27.781, 7 Iliffe 1:27.874, 8 Avril 1:27.969, 9 Panzeri 1:27.994, 10 Goudchaux 1:28.069, etc.
> Women’s Qualifying session: 1 Panzeri 1:27.994, 2 Stiebleichinger 1:28.531, 3 Billard 1:28.644, 4 Proenca 1:28.674, 5 Zanfari 1:28.748, etc.
> Race 1 Standings
1 Guillaume Bouzar (France) with 19 laps
2 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 1.028
3 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) at 2.795
4 Lilian Soares (France) at 3.816
5 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 4.014
6 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 7.724 *
7 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 8.411
8 Jules Avril (France) at 9.581
9 Maverick Mckenna (USA) at 10.090
10 Jimmy Helias (France) at 11.240
11 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 11.498
12 Jade Jacquet (France) at 15.347 *
13 Tom Dussol (France) at 15.696
14 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 16.085
15 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 16.290
16 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 17.359
17 Angelina Proenca (France) at 18.776 *
18 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 19.551 *
19 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 20.414 *
20 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 20.421
21 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 21.124
22 Paul Gleizes (France) at 23.242
23 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 23.928
24 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 24.262 *
25 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 24.290 *
26 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 27.834 *
27 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 45.771
28 Isabella Abreu (Cuba) at 50.378 *
29 Oscar Goudchaux (France) with 6 laps
30 Lisa Billard (France) with 6 laps *
31 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) with 2 laps
32 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) with 2 laps
FL: Bouzar 1:16.981 (avg. 177.7 km/h)
* Women
> Women’s Race 1
1 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
2 Jade Jacquet (France)
3 Angelina Proenca (France)
4 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
5 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
6 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
7 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
8 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
9 Isabella Abreu (Cuba)
10 Lisa Billard (France)
> Race 2 Standings
1 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) with 23 laps
2 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 4.185
3 Jules Avril (France) at 6.428
4 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 7.243
5 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 7.840
6 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 8.913
7 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 13.373 *
8 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 14.056
9 Lilian Soares (France) at 14.891
10 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 15.119
11 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 15.921
12 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) at 18.500
13 Maverick Mckenna (USA) at 20.829
14 Jimmy Helias (France) at 21.313
15 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 22.290
16 Lisa Billard (France) at 22.797 *
17 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 26.423
18 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) at 26.525
19 Jade Jacquet (France) at 33.418 *
20 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 33.645 *
21 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 34.088
22 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 35.398
23 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 35.647 *
24 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 38.617
25 Angelina Proenca (France) at 39.131 *
26 Paul Gleizes (France) at 39.755
27 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 45.903 *
28 Héloïse Goldberg (France) with 22 laps *
29 Isabella Abreu (Cuba) with 22 laps *
30 Autumn Fisher (Canada) with 21 laps *
31 Tom Dussol (France) with 16 laps
32 Kyler Cheezum (USA) with 7 laps
FL: Ramaekers in 1:17.488 (avg. 176.5 km/h)
> Women’s Race 2
1 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
2 Lisa Billard (France)
3 Jade Jacquet (France)
4 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
5 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
6 Angelina Proenca (France)
7 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
8 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
9 Isabella Abreu (Cuba)
10 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
> Race 3: Sunday 17 May (10:20 – 10:55)
Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve
