At Lédenon, Saturday 19 September 2026 was a day of major firsts. Starting from pole position in Race 1, Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi secured his first-ever victory in the French F4 Championship, finishing ahead of Guillaume Bouzar, who took a small step towards a potential title. In Race 2, Jade Jacquet held off Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers to become the first woman to win a race in the FFSA Academy Championship.
This fifth and penultimate round of the French F4 Championship season demonstrated that there was a long list of drivers capable of winning. In fact, the anticipated title showdown between France’s Guillaume Bouzar and Belgium’s Thibaut Ramaekers failed to materialise, in neither Race 1 nor in Race 2. It must be said that Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi stole the limelight right from the Qualifying session by securing pole position ahead of Lilian Soares, a young driver who continues to go from strength to strength. Bouzar had nevertheless secured a crucial 3rd place in terms of the overall standings, given that Ramaekers had to settle for 9th place. With drivers such as Iliffe, Herrouin, Dussol, Francis and Dauvergne ahead of him, it was never going to be easy for the RACB protégé.
Race 1: Kota Tsuchihashi claims his first win
The fourth podium of the season proved to be the one for Tsuchihashi, who had been longing to stand on the top step. Competitive since the start of the season, the driver backed by the Suzuka Honda Racing School made no mistakes while converting his pole position into a flawless victory. Guillaume Bouzar set off in hot pursuit, however, immediately after his swift overtake on Lilian Soares, but the Japanese driver held his nerve and led from start to finish. He managed the safety car period shortly before the halfway mark perfectly, extending his lead once again on the restart whilst also setting the fastest lap.
Behind them, the chasing pack cancelled each other out. Bouzar remained in 2nd place until the chequered flag, ahead of Soares. Hugo Herrouin had managed to get the better of American Jack Iliffe to take 4th place, but had to give the position back after the finish due to a penalty. Tom Dussol, who had been running in 6th place for much of the race, was forced to retire, allowing the group comprising Australian Lewis Francis, Frenchman Matthéo Dauvergne and Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers to move up a place in the standings. Starting in 12th, Nicolas Pasquier boosted his Championship points tally by finishing 9th ahead of Israeli Yuval Rosen, who had climbed seven places.
Race 2: Jade Jacquet secures first women’s victory
The participation of Jade Jacquet and Lisa Billard in the F1 Academy, along with the creation of a French Women’s F4 Championship, has generated real excitement since the start of the 2026 season. As well as their desire to claim a place on the podium now reserved for them, the young female drivers continue to demonstrate their determination to excel in the overall standings. Ultimately Jade Jacquet became the first woman to win a race in F4 France.
Having finished an excellent 10th out of 30 in Qualifying, she secured pole position on the starting grid for Race 2, and no one managed to dislodge her from the lead – not even the yellow flags that brought the safety car onto the track. By that point, she had built up a significant lead over Thibaut Ramaekers after setting the fastest lap of the race. When the race restarted, the driver – a member of the FFSA Circuit French National Team and the Williams Academy – set off once more in pursuit of victory and pulled away again.
Jacquet left Ramaekers to battle it out with Francis. The Belgian held on to 2nd place ahead of the Australian, keeping his title hopes alive for the time being following Bouzar’s crash at the back of the field. Having started 3rd, Dauvergne had disappeared from view at the start of the race. Disappointed by his retirement in Race 1, Dussol finished 4th this time, ahead of Soares and Tsuchihashi, both of whom had moved up four places. In 7th, Jules Avril managed to gain five places, whilst Hugo Herrouin secured the final points in Race 2 despite a magnificent eight-place comeback by the US driver Maverick McKenna.
Women: An uncertain pecking order
Following Jade Jacquet’s retirement from Race 1, Italy’s Ginevra Panzeri made a superb and incisive start to the race, gaining the upper hand over Morocco’s Sofia Zanfari and then Austria’s Clara Stiebleichinger. Whilst Panzeri proved unbeatable, the positions behind her shifted several times before finally settling with Canada’s Autumn Fisher in 2nd place ahead of Angelina Proenca, Héloïse Goldberg and the Dutch driver Annabelle Brian. In Race 2, Jade Jacquet pulled off a double, claiming the top spot on the podium twice. Stiebleichinger bounced back to take 2nd place ahead of Panzeri.
> Qualifying session: 1 Tsuchihashi 1:21.769, 2 Soares 1:21.788, 3 Bouzar 1:22.047, 4 Iliffe 1:22.066, 5 Herrouin 1:22.144, 6 Dussol 1:22.161, 7 Francis 1:22.181, 8 Dauvergne 1:22.212, 9 Ramaekers 1:22.293, 10 Jacquet 1:22.352, etc.> Women’s Qualifying session: 1 Jacquet 1:22.352, 2 Zanfari 1:22.672, 3 Stiebleichinger 1:22.785, 4 Panzeri 1:22.936, 5 Brian 1:23.159, etc.
> Race 1 results
1 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) in 20 laps
2 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 3.626
3 Lilian Soares (France) at 4.027
4 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 5.796
5 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 7.508
6 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 7.726
7 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) at 8.742
8 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) at 9.778
9 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 12.578
10 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 12.965
11 Jules Avril (France) at 13.643
12 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 14.250
13 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 14.912
14 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 17.355
15 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 18.515 *
16 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 24.773 *
17 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 25.023
18 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 25.306
19 Angelina Proenca (France) at 29.375 *
20 Paul Gleizes (France) at 29.636
21 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 32.345
22 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 35.775 *
23 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 1:09.642 *
24 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 1:36.193 *
25 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) with 19 laps *
26 Walter Schulz (F) with 19 laps
27 Maverick McKenna (USA) with 15 laps
28 Tom Dussol (France) with 14 laps
29 Jade Jacquet (France) with 6 laps *
30 Thomas Senecloze (France) with 6 laps
FL : Tsuchihashi 1:21.634 (avg. 139.1 km/h)
* Women’s
> Women’s Race 1
1 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
2 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
3 Angelina Proenca (France)
4 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
5 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
6 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
7 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
8 Jade Jacquet (France)
> Race 2 results
1 Jade Jacquet (France) with 19 laps *
2 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) at 1.620
3 Lewis Francis (Australia) at 1.760
4 Tom Dussol (France) at 1.841
5 Lilian Soares (France) at 2.779
6 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) at 4.544
7 Jules Avril (France) at 6.604
8 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 7.398
9 Maverick Mckenna (USA) at 8.575
10 Jack Iliffe (USA) at 9.208
11 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 9.730
12 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 10.441
13 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 10.572
14 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 11.489 *
15 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 12.039
16 Walter Schulz (France) at 12.201
17 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 12.657
18 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) at 12.888 *
19 Arthur Eschalier (France) at 13.357
20 Angelina Proenca (France) at 13.881 *
21 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 14.318 *
22 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 14.607 *
23 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 15.073 *
24 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 38.934
25 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 40.197
26 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 1:45.517
27 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) with 9 laps
28 Paul Gleizes (France) with 9 laps
29 Autumn Fisher (Canada) with 5 laps *
30 Matthéo Dauvergne (France), DNF
FL: Jacquet in 1:22.661 (avg. 137.4 km/h)
> Women’s Race 2
1 Jade Jacquet (France)
2 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
3 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
4 Angelina Proenca (France)
5 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
6 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
7 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
8 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
> Race 3: Sunday 20 September (09:25 – 10:00)
