By winning Race 1 and moving up to 5th in Race 2, won by American Garrett Berry, Enzo Peugeot made a good impression in the French F4 Championship standings on the first day of racing at the Misano circuit.
The expected heat on the shores of the Adriatic did in fact materialise in Italy, where the FFSA Academy hosted the fifth round of the French Championship. It was hot not only in terms of the thermometer, but also on the track, with two very lively races and plenty of action in the pack. More than ever, the duel for the title continued competitively, in particular between Enzo Peugeot and Evan Giltaire, as well as for the following places.
Race 1: Enzo Peugeot imperious despite two neutralisations
Enzo Peugeot took pole position with a lead of almost three-tenths over Evan Giltaire and drove the perfect race, leading from start to finish. Initially overtaken by Romain Andriolo on the first lap, Giltaire managed the restart after the second safety car perfectly to recover his advantage. He also took back the best lap from Peugeot by just 18 hundredths, but was unable to close the gap to the leader by more than a second.
At the end of the race, Edgar Pierre put the pressure on Romain Andriolo, who held on to complete the podium. Canadian Kevin Foster and American Garrett Berry, who both managed to overtake Romanian Andrei Duna from the start, finished wheel-to-wheel in 5th and 6th positions.
One of the safety car periods followed a collision between Italian Leonardo Megna and Louis Schlesser, who was battling for 9th place. Edouard Borgna bore the brunt of the collision and retired. Behind Karel Schulz, in a solid 8th place, Belgian Yani Stevenheydens made a magnificent comeback from 23rd. Andorran Frank Porte Ruiz completed the top 10 in a race that did not go the way of Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, one of the strongest men in the Championship.
Garrett Berry masters the competition in Race 2
Penalised in Race 1, Louis Schlesser lost the opportunity to start from pole position and it was Karel Schulz who took advantage of his 1st place on the grid to take the lead in the first corner ahead of Garrett Berry, Kevin Foster and Louis Schlesser. But an initial incident involving Leonardo Megna and Andrei Duna immediately brought out the safety car.
Romain Andriolo and Enzo Peugeot immediately went on the attack as soon as the green flag returned, gaining further places. At the front, Berry took the lead with authority over Schulz, who continued his descent. Boosted by its victory in Race 1, Peugeot continued to gain momentum as the laps went by. His duel with Schlesser ended with Schlesser losing places.
The hierarchy eventually stabilised, with Berry taking his second win ahead of Foster and Andriolo, the only driver of the day to finish on the podium twice in succession. After holding off Giltaire, Pierre finally took 4th place ahead of Peugeot, who was penalised by a place for overstepping the track limits. Enzo Richer finished on a positive note, beating Giltaire to 6th place. Schlesser salvaged 8th place ahead of Adrien Closmenil and Karel Schulz.
The Misano programme continues: Race 3, Sunday 16th July from 11:45 to 12:15
> Race 1 standings
1 Enzo Peugeot (France) with 12 laps
2 Evan Giltaire (France) at 1.226
3 Romain Andriolo (France) at 2.580
4 Edgar Pierre (France) at 2.910
5 Kevin Foster (Canada) at 5.186
6 Garrett Berry (United States) at 5.412
7 Andrei Duna (Romania) at 6.567
8 Karel Schulz (France) at 8.435
9 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 9.142
10 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 11.777
11 Pol Lopez (Spain) at 11.811
12 Enzo Richer (France) at 12.277
13 Adrien Closmenil (France) at 13.174
14 Jason Leung (Canada) at 14.562
15 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 17.719
16 Tom Kalender (Germany) at 18.229
17 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan) at 18.394
18 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 20.096
19 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia) at 43.523
20 Max Reis (Germany), retired on lap 10
21 Paul Alberto (France), retired on lap 9
22 Louis Schlesser (France), retired on lap 5
23 Edouard Borgna (France), retired on lap 5
24 Luca Savu (Romania), retired on lap 2
25 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine), retirement on lap 2
Pole position: Peugeot in 1:37.310
FL: Giltaire in 1:37.591 (avg. 155.8 km)
> Race 2 standings
1 Garrett Berry (United States) on 12 laps
2 Kevin Foster (Canada) at 0.564
3 Romain Andriolo (France) at 2.168
4 Edgar Pierre (France) at 6.224
5 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 3.291 (+1 penalty point)
6 Enzo Richer (France) at 6.459
7 Evan Giltaire (France) at 6.613
8 Louis Schlesser (France) at 7.045
9 Adrien Closmenil (France) at 7.846
10 Karel Schulz (France) at 11.104
11 Jason Leung (Canada) at 13.058
12 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan) at 13.710
13 Pol Lopez (Spain) at 14.188
14 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 14.423
15 Paul Alberto (France) at 14.588
16 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia) at 14.936
17 Edouard Borgna (France) at 16.531
18 Max Reis (Germany) at 18.031
19 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 19.661
20 Luca Savu (Romania) at 25.991
21 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium), retired on lap 7
22 Leonardo Megna (Italy), retired on lap 5
23 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine), retired on lap 5
24 Tom Kalender (Germany), retired on lap 4
25 Andrei Duna (Romania), retirement on lap 1
FL: Peugeot in 1:37.831 (avg. 155.5 km)
