Whilst Japan’s Kota Tsuchihashi put in a commanding performance in Race 3 and added a second victory to his tally, the French F4 Championship reached a major turning point at Lédenon with Frenchman Guillaume Bouzar’s 2nd-place finish and the crash of Belgian driver Thibaut Ramaekers. Mathematically speaking, Bouzar has not yet secured the title, but he now holds a very comfortable lead over his rival with three weeks to go until the finale at the Paul Ricard circuit.
Tsuchihashi Kota, F4, JPN, MYGALE / RENAULT / PIRELLI, FFSA Academy, Championnat de France, LEDENON, National Race, © KSP Reportages
The Qualifying session played a crucial role in the outcome of the event. On the ‘Gard toboggan’, the drivers who started from pole position confirmed their form by crossing the finish line as winners: Kota Tsuchihashi in Races 1 and 3, and Jade Jacquet in Race 2. Following this historic moment, the first victory by a woman in the French F4 Championship, the final showdown was eagerly anticipated by overall Championship leader Guillaume Bouzar, who was determined to capitalise on his position on the starting grid to further extend his lead over the Belgian Thibaut Ramaekers.
Race 3: The Japanese national anthem for the third consecutive year
Like Taito Kato in 2024 and Rintaro Sato in 2025, Kota Tsuchihashi had the Japanese national anthem played on the podium at Lédenon. The driver, supported by the Suzuka-based Honda Racing School, proved to be the standout performer of the weekend. For him, the scenario from Race 1 played out exactly the same way, with Race 3 led from start to finish. However, he had to concede the fastest lap to Guillaume Bouzar by a mere 4 thousandths of a second. Near Nîmes, Bouzar didn’t win, but his 2nd place brings him a little closer to the title, as his rival Thibaut Ramaekers failed to score any points in this Race 3, following an incident at the start that sent him to the back of the field.
Once again on the third step of the podium despite a challenge from Hugo Herrouin, Lilian Soares has, for the time being, lost his 3rd place in the overall standings to Tsuchihashi. Matthéo Dauvergne rounded off the top five after a solid race. The Israeli Yuval Rosen provided plenty of excitement in the field after starting from 14th on the grid. After making an excellent start, he went on to gain three places to finish 6th ahead of Tom Dussol, a regular contender in the Championship.
Kenyan Shane Chandaria also fought some superb battles to finish 8th ahead of Oscar Goudchaux, who moved up two places. In Race 3, which was marked by two safety car deployments, Thomas Senecloze managed to break into the top 10. Following the retirement of Australian driver Lewis Francis, US driver Jack Iliffe was forced to retire whilst running in the chasing pack.
Jade Jacquet triumphs once again in the Women’s race
Finishing 13th in Race 3, Jade Jacquet controlled the race in the Women’s category, leaving her rivals to battle it out several lengths behind. As Saturday’s heroine did not score any points in the French Women’s Championship due to her simultaneous involvement in the F1 Academy, the Moroccan Sofia Zanfari bagged a fine haul of points in the overall standings by holding off a challenge from the Dutch driver Annabelle Brian, who had extended her lead during the race over the Austrian Clara Stiebleichinger, the Canadian Autumn Fisher and the French driver Angelina Proenca. The Italian Ginevra Panzeri was in contention for the podium before she retired.
> Race 3 Results
1 Kota Tsuchihashi (Japan) in 18 laps
2 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 1.257
3 Lilian Soares (France) at 2.390
4 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 3.220
5 Matthéo Dauvergne (France) at 4.660
6 Yuval Rosen (Israel) at 5.200
7 Tom Dussol (France) at 5.752
8 Shane Chandaria (Kenya) at 6.013
9 Oscar Goudchaux (France) at 6.663
10 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 7.000
11 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 7.856
12 Wojciech Woda (Poland) at 8.532
13 Jade Jacquet (France) at 8.910 *
14 Walter Schulz (F) at 9.217
15 Jules Avril (France) at 11.509
16 Paul Gleizes (France) at 11.933
17 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 12.809 *
18 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 13.773 *
19 Thibaut Ramaekers (Belgium) at 14.288
20 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria) at 14.872 *
21 Autumn Fisher (Canada) at 15.509 *
22 Angelina Proenca (France) at 16.318 *
23 Kyler Cheezum (USA) at 17.372
24 Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 17.684 *
25 Sasha Beisemann (Paraguay) at 18.286
26 Maverick McKenna (USA) with 15 laps
27 Arthur Eschalier (France) with 15 laps
28 Jack Iliffe (USA) with 4 laps
29 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy) with 3 laps *
30 Lewis Francis (Australia), DNS
FL: Bouzar 1:21.937 (avg. 138.6 km/h)
* Women’s
> Women’s Race 3
1 Jade Jacquet (France)
2 Sofia Zanfari (Morocco)
3 Annabelle Brian (Netherlands)
4 Clara Stiebleichinger (Austria)
5 Autumn Fisher (Canada)
6 Angelina Proenca (France)
7 Héloïse Goldberg (France)
8 Ginevra Panzeri (Italy)
> Championship standings after Lédenon
F4 Academy: 1 Bouzar 223 pts, 2 Ramaekers (BEL) 161 pts, 3 Tsuchihashi (JPN) 145 pts, 4 Soares 127 pts, 5 Herrouin 113 pts, 6 Dauvergne 85 pts, 7 Dussol 64 pts, 8 Iliffe (USA) 59 pts, 9 Francis (AUS) 46 pts, 10 Rosen (ISR) and McKenna (USA) 42 pts, 12 Goudchaux 40 pts, 13 Avril 26 pts, 14 Chandaria (KEN) 20 pts, 15 Pasquier 13 pts, 16 Helias 9 pts, 17 Eschalier 8 pts, 18 Senecloze 4 pts, 19 Stiebleichinger (AUT) and Woda (POL) 1 pt.
Women’s F4: 1 Brian (NED) 215 pts, 2 Stiebleichinger (AUT) 203 pts, 3 Proenca 189 pts, 4 Zanfari (MAR) 168 pts, 5 Goldberg 150 pts, 6 Abreu (CUB) 43 pts, etc.
