Overtaking, comebacks, suspense for the podiums and reversals of fortune… the young drivers in the French 4 Championship engaged in some breathtaking duels in Race 3 at Dijon. Alex Munoz remained unperturbed at the head of the field.
The weather remained pleasant and spring-like throughout the second round of the FIA-certified F4 Championship. The drivers were therefore able to give their best in ideal conditions, working closely with the FFSA Academy engineers to define the best technical solutions, while seeking the ideal strategy for using their quota of Pirelli tyres. Determined by the second fastest laps for each driver during the Qualifying session, the starting grid for Race 3 allowed Alex Munoz to regain the lead ahead of Germany’s Montego Maassen, Jules Roussel and Rafaël Perard.
Excellent starts from Jules Roussel and Arthur Dorison
While Alex Munoz held on to his lead at the start, Jules Roussel took the opportunity to overtake Montego Maassen, while Arthur Dorison immediately moved up from 7th to 4th place ahead of Guillaume Bouzar and Rafaël Perard, who lost two positions. 6th on the grid, Hugo Herrouin dropped back to 11th. At the back of the pack, Rayan Caretti and Louis Iglesias began a spirited comeback from the back row.
While Roussel tried in vain to get the better of Munoz, an incident at the back of the field involving Angelina Proenca caused the safety car to pull out. This was to be the only intervention. On the restart, Munoz found his second wind and it was Maassen who pressed Roussel for 2nd place. With his third fastest lap in a row at Dijon, Munoz put himself firmly out of reach of his rivals and headed for another success.
Behind him, there was a very interesting group in which positions changed constantly. Perard overtook Bouzar and then Dorison, before putting the pressure on Maassen in the hope of a podium finish. Between Rintaro Sato, Andy Consani and Mattéo Giaccardi, no favours were given either and it was Mattéo who emerged victorious from this intense duel. A final twist came on the last lap. The head-to-head between Bouzar and Dorison ended in a crash for Bouzar, who had just got the better of his rival, and a penalty for Dorison, who dropped out of the top 20. Giaccardi inherited 5th place ahead of Sato, Consani and the consistent Malo Bolliet. Rayan Caretti achieved the impossible by scoring the points for 9th place after gaining 20 places! Hugo Herrouin rounded off the top ten ahead of Roméo Leurs and Louis Iglesias, who made an effective comeback from 30th and last place.
First victory for Jade Jacquet in the women’s category
Back in 18th place after starting 26th, Jade Jacquet showed great fighting spirit in Race 3. This enabled her to claim her first victory in her category ahead of Lisa Billard, who had dropped back shortly before the halfway stage following an incident. 3rd-placed Héloïse Goldberg took her first podium finish in F4. Moroccan Sofia Zanfari was not far off the top three.
Alex Munoz makes the break
Munoz was clearly the big beneficiary of the first two races of the F4 Academy season. With his four victories, he already has 123 points, compared with 76 for Jules Roussel, who has a string of podium finishes to his name while waiting for his first success. For his first year in F4, Rafaël Perard is the revelation of the start of the year. He is currently in 3rd place ahead of Arthur Dorison, who has already won two races, and Louis Iglesias, who should continue to make progress.
> Race 3 standings
1 Alexandre Munoz (France) with 22 laps
2 Jules Roussel (France) at 2.759
3 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 6.353
4 Rafaël Perard (France) at 6.735
5 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) at 11.790
6 Rintaro Sato (Japan) at 12.156
7 Andy Consani (France) at 12.405
8 Malo Bolliet (France) at 12.521
9 Rayan Caretti (France) at 13.143
10 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 13.213
11 Roméo Leurs (France) at 14.435
12 Louis Iglesias (France) at 15.089
13 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) at 17.574
14 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 18.675
15 Paul Roques (France) at 24.626
16 Pierre Devos (France) at 25.965
17 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) at 31.710
18 (F) Jade Jacquet (France) at 32.690
19 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) at 35.847
20 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 35.848
21 Arthur Dorison (France) at 36.296
22 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) at 38.593
23 (F) Lisa Billard (France) at 42.121
24 Hugo Martiniello (France) at 43.368
25 (F) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 48.268
26 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 54.141
27 (F) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 56.970
28 Zhelin Shen (China) with 21 laps
29 (F) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) with 20 laps
30 (F) Angelina Proenca (France) with 5 laps
Best lap: Munoz in 1:25.845 (avg. 152.4 km/h)
(F): Women
> Championship standings after Dijon
1 Munoz 123 pts, 2 Roussel 76 pts, 3 Perard 48 pts, 4 Dorison 42 pts, 5 Iglesias 39 pts, 6 Bolliet 33 pts, 7 Maassen 30 pts, 8 Giaccardi 28 pts, 9 Consani 22 pts, 10 Bouzar 22 pts, 11 Caretti 22 pts, 12 Sato 15 pts, 13 Senecloze 12 pts, 14 Herrouin 8 pts, 15 Riccobono Bello 4 pts, 16 Leurs 4 pts, 17 Pirri 2 pts.
> Next races in 2025:
Spa Francorchamps-Belgium (20th-22nd June), Magny-Cours (1st-3rd August), Lédenon (12th-14th September) and Le Mans (25th-27th September).
