The French F4 Championship had an Asia-Pacific feel on Sunday, with the Australian Barter winning Race 1 and Japan’s Nomura winning Race 2. With a large field of 24 drivers, the 2022 season is well and truly underway…
The drivers entered in the French F4 Championship have come from all over the world to join the FFSA Academy in this highly international F4 Championship, with a total of 11 nationalities represented! Since the launch of the first official tests on Saturday, the drivers have benefited from fine, even hot and sunny, weather on Saturday afternoon for the Qualifying sessions and for Race 2 on Sunday. First observations: the standard of the competitors is extremely high, the gaps are small and the contenders for the podium are numerous. Six drivers – Australian, Japanese, French and Belgian – have already had a taste of it after the first two races of the meeting.
Race 1: Hugh Barter holds off Souta Arao
Having won a race at the Nogaro circuit on his F4 debut in 2021, Australian Hugh Barter confirmed his talent by taking pole position in 1’28″127, with a tiny gap of 83 hundredths over Japan’s Souta Arao, a graduate of the Suzuka Racing School and supported by Honda and Red Bull. A quartet of Frenchmen took the next places with Pierre-Alexandre Provost ahead of Elliott Vayron, Alessandro Giusti and Enzo Geraci.
The next morning, Barter did not miss his launch at the start of Race 1, but immediately found himself under threat from Arao. On several occasions, the Japanese driver tried to overtake the Australian, who remained solid and confident in the lead. Despite setting the fastest lap, Arao was able to secure 2nd place, while intelligently managing his tyre capital for the rest of the meeting. This duo widened the gap on a group of three drivers. Faster than Provost, Vayron won the battle for 3rd place. In ambush, Geraci waited in vain for a mistake from his rivals, but was satisfied to start his season with a top five. In 6th place, Alessandro Giusti was unable to recover the position he lost at the start, despite a strong and consistent pace. At the end of this first race, the FFSA Academy could congratulate itself on a faultless performance by the 24 drivers, who all reached the finish line safely in Race 1!
Race 2: Nomura surprises Peugeot
The top 10 finishers in Qualifying were placed on the grid in reverse order for Race 2, in accordance with the new F4 Academy sporting regulations. Enzo Peugeot took pole position, but Yuto Nomura was quicker at lights out and took the lead into the first corner. Behind him, an identical reversal of positions took place between Swiss driver Dario Cabanelas, who was overtaken by Belgian driver Lorens Lecertua. Although Hugh Barter was very incisive in the opening laps to gain a few places, it was Pablo Sarrazin who made the best progress, with a gain of six places in one lap!
Enzo Richer was involved in a collision in the pack and ended up retiring. An incident involving Leny Réveillère led to the safety car coming out and the remaining cars regrouping on track. At the green flag, Peugeot was immediately distanced by Nomura and could no longer worry the Japanese driver, the second winner of the season and holder of the fastest lap, also under the Red Bull colours like his compatriot Arao. Worried by Cabanelas at the beginning of the race, Lecertua himself started to put a lot of pressure on Peugeot. The positions ended up freezing. Further back, Enzo Geraci took another top five, again ahead of Giusti. Barter was pleased with his three-place gain, which allowed him to get ahead of Elliott Vayron, Souta Arao and Pierre-Alexandre Provost.
Continuation of the programme at Nogaro: Race 3, Monday 18th April from 11:50 to 12:15
> Ranking of Race 1
1 Hugh Barter (Australia) at 15 laps
2 Souta Arao (Japan) at 1″900
3 Elliott Vayron (France) at 2″596
4 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 3″065
5 Enzo Geraci (France) at 3″444
6 Alessandro Giusti (France) at 5″126
7 Yuto Nomura (Japan) at 8″063
8 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 10″616
9 Lorens Lecertua (Belgium) at 11″133
10 Edgar Pierre (France) at 11″940
11 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 12″322
12 Romain Andriolo (France) at 16″850
13 Max Reis (Germany) at 17″610
14 Louis Pelet (France) at 18″420
15 Jeronimo Berrio (Colombia) at 19″356
16 Leny Réveillère (France) at 20″463
17 Enzo Richer (France) at 21″506
18 Pablo Sarrazin (France) at 22″237
19 Mateo Villagomez (Ecuador) at 22″985
20 Valentino Mini (Panama) at 23″267
21 Pol Lopez Gutierrez (Andorra) at 29″466
22 Amir Sayed (India) at 30″912
23 Luciano Morano (France) at 43″842
24 Antoine Fernande (France) at 45″149
FL: Souta Arao in 1’28″685 (average speed 147,5 km/h)
> Race 2 ranking
1 Yuto Nomura (Japan) at 15 laps
2 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 2″248
3 Lorens Lecertua (Belgium) at 2″665
4 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 3″004
5 Enzo Geraci (France) at 5″508
6 Alessandro Giusti (France) at 8″023
7 Hugh Barter (Australia) at 8″685
8 Elliott Vayron (France) at 10″870
9 Souta Arao (Japan) at 11″395
10 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 14″114
11 Edgar Pierre (France) at 14″575
12 Pablo Sarrazin (France) at 15″025
13 Mateo Villagomez (Ecuador) at 21″071
14 Romain Andriolo (France) at 23″658
15 Max Reis (Germany) at 23″814
16 Valentino Mini (Panama) at 23″945
17 Jeronimo Berrio (Colombia) at 25″624
18 Luciano Morano (France) at 26″291
19 Louis Pelet (France) at 28″712
20 Antoine Fernande (France) at 28″789
21 Pol Lopez Gutierrez (Andorra) at 55″906
22 Leny Réveillère (France) at 11 laps
23 Amir Sayed (India) at 12 laps
24 Enzo Richer (France) at 13 laps
FL: Yuto Nomura in 1’29″694 (average speed 145,9 km/h)
