There was plenty of action at Spa Francorchamps during the first two races, which took place in sweltering heat. Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers got the better of pole-sitter Guillaume Bouzar in Race 1. Already leading the French F4 Championship, Bouzar nevertheless achieved the best result from a points perspective by finishing 2nd in Race 2 behind Israeli driver Yuval Rosen, who celebrated his maiden Formula 4 victory.
A double pole position for Guillaume Bouzar
In Belgium, Bouzar managed Friday’s Qualifying session perfectly, building up his pace slowly but surely to set the fastest lap halfway through the session. Motivated by the prospect of racing on home soil, Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers finished 2nd, 182 thousandths of a second behind his rival. 3rd place was decided in the final minutes, with Hugo Herrouin coming out on top, by an extremely narrow margin over Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi, Tom Dussol and Oscar Goudchaux.
Race 1: Thibaut Ramaekers pulls away
Even before the end of the first lap, Ramaekers had overtaken Bouzar, whilst Herrouin held onto 3rd place ahead of Tsuchihashi. A spectacular collision between the Moroccan Sofia Zanfari and the American Kyler Cheezum brought out the safety car. Ramaekers managed the restart perfectly and gradually pulled away from his rivals, capitalising on the battle between those chasing him to extend his lead. Herrouin managed to snatch 2nd place from Bouzar for a few laps, but Bouzar – who set the fastest lap of the race – reclaimed his position at the very last moment behind an imperious Ramaekers.
Tsuchihashi, a graduate of the Suzuka Honda Racing School, held on solidly to 4th place, whilst Tom Dussol eventually got the better of American Jack Iliffe to take 5th. Having started 9th, Matthéo Dauvergne finished 7th ahead of Oscar Goudchaux. Nicolas Pasquier and Maverick McKenna, another driver from the USA, rounded off the top 10. Lilian Soares had a disappointing Race 1, dropping from 7th to 14th place behind Jules Avril.
Race 2: Yuval Rosen dominates from start to finish
As at Nogaro, Yuval Rosen secured pole position for Race 2 under the reverse grid rule for the top 10 finishers in Qualifying. Although the Israeli had finished 3rd in the Easter rounds, the Feed Racing driver this time delivered a flawless performance, leading from start to finish and securing his first victory in the FFSA Academy Championship. Maverick McKenna, who had been running 2nd for much of the race, was eventually caught by the chasing pack. After an excellent start and emerging victorious from the thrilling duels against Oscar Goudchaux, Lilian Soares, Kota Tsuchihashi and Hugo Herrouin, Bouzar made significant progress in the Championship by securing 2nd place once again, adding a fastest lap in the race to his tally.
A few lengths behind, Herrouin managed to hold off Tsuchihashi to take 4th place, leaving his pursuers to battle it out in intense duels. Thomas Senecloze managed to join the fray to secure the point for 8th place behind Lilian Soares and Jack Iliffe. Collisions in the field early in the race led to the retirements of Tom Dussol, Matthéo Dauvergne and Thibaut Ramaekers.
Dramatic twists in the women’s race too
The French Women’s F4 Championship has no shortage of contenders this season, and Saturday’s two races proved it, with the order of the field changing frequently. Clara Stiebleichinger won the first round after getting the better of Lisa Billard. The Austrian finished just outside the top 10 in the overall standings. Dutch driver Annabelle Brian staged a superb comeback to catch up with Canadian Autumn Fisher and overtake her as they approached the finish line.
Annabelle Brian amply demonstrated her competitiveness in Race 2. Starting in 28th place, she overtook all her rivals to claim the top step of the podium in her category, whilst also finishing 10th in the overall standings thanks to a magnificent attacking drive. Autumn Fisher and Clara Stiebleichinger finished closely behind in 2nd and 3rd places. Lisa Billard came 4th ahead of Sofia Zanfari, who had recovered well from her incident that morning.
> Qualifying session: 1 Bouzar 2:23.770, 2 Ramaekers 2:23.952, 3 Herrouin 2:24.229, 4 Tsuchihashi 2:24.326, 5 Dussol 2:24.383, 6 Goudchaux 2:24.423, 7 Soares 2:24.528, 8 Mckenna 2:24.541, 9 Dauvergne 2:24.577, 10 Rosen 2:24.891, etc.
> Women’s Qualifying session: 1 Billard 2:24.967, 2 Stiebleichinger 2:25.089, 3 Fisher 2:25.387, 4 Zanfari 2:25.464, 5 Proenca 2:25.977, etc.
> Race 1 Results
1 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) in 10 laps
2 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 3.423
3 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 4.183
4 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) at 4.984
5 Tom Dussol (France) at 6.056
6 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 10.327
7 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) at 11.083
8 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 11.172
9 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 11.948
10 Maverick Mckenna (USA) at 12.301
11 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 14.558 *
12 Lisa Billard (France) at 15.029 *
13 Jules Avril (France) at 15.839
14 Lilian Soares (France) at 17.432
15 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 17.833
16 Paul Gleizes (France) at 19.042
17 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 19.210 *
18 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 19.616 *
19 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 23.458
20 Jade Jacquet (France) at 24.397 *
21 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 24.830
22 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 25.187
23 Angelina Proenca (France) at 29.234 *
24 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 29.669 *
25 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 30.043 *
26 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 38.587
27 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 56.152
28 Lewis Francis (Australia) with 7 laps
29 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) with 1 lap *
30 Kyler Cheezum (USA) with 1 lap
FL: Bouzar 2:24.483 (avg. 174.5 km/h)
* Women’s
> Women’s Race 1
1 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
2 Lisa Billard (France)
3 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
4 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
5 Jade Jacquet (France)
6 Angelina Proenca (France)
7 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
8 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
9 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
> Race 2 Standings
1 Yuval Rosen (Israel) with 13 laps
2 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 7.365
3 Maverick Mckenna (USA) at 7.864
4 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 9.108
5 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) at 9.278
6 Lilian Soares (France) at 25.292
7 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 25.491
8 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 25.988
9 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 27.627
10 Annabelle Brian at 28.342 *
11 Jules Avril (France) at 30.242
12 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 30.951 *
13 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 31.891 *
14 Lisa Billard (France) at 34.062 *
15 Paul Gleizes (France) at 38.745
16 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 39.635
17 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 42.653 *
18 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 43.182
19 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 47.713
20 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 47.962 *
21 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 48.093
22 Angelina Proenca (France) at 51.009 *
23 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 58.492
24 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 1:50.372
25 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) with 12 laps
26 Héloïse Goldberg (France) with 9 laps *
27 Jade Jacquet (France) with 7 laps *
28 Tom Dussol (France) with 1 lap
29 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) with 0 laps
30 Oscar Goudchaux (France), disqualified
FL: Bouzar in 2:25.225 (avg. 173.6 km/h)
> Women’s Race 2
1 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
2 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
3 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
4 Lisa Billard (France)
5 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
6 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
7 Angelina Proenca (France)
8 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
9 Jade Jacquet (France)
> Race 3: Sunday 21st June (10.40 – 11.15)
