After two red flags complicated the task of the 26 drivers in the French F4 Championship during the Qualifying session for the sixth of the seven 2023 events at Lédenon, Frenchman Enzo Peugeot narrowly edged out Canadian Kevin Foster for 1st place. On the Gard toboggan run, with a track length of just 3150 metres, the 25 minutes allotted to the academicians were not easy to manage, as Enzo Peugeot explains.
“Right from the start of the session, we had to take the traffic into account, as we were spread out all over the circuit. The first fast laps went well for me and I was able to get up to P2 behind Foster. A red flag cut us off and, as soon as we were able to restart, a second neutralisation sent us back to the pits. When we got back on track, there were only a few minutes left. I managed to get the tyres back up to temperature and secured pole position by 29 thousandths! It’s obviously good news in terms of this meeting and the Championship.”
For his part, Kevin Foster chose not to restart after the second red flag in order to save tyres, so he had to be satisfied with 2nd place. But the biggest upset came from Evan Giltaire. On his final lap, the overall leader had improved on Peugeot’s time at the last minute. However, a yellow flag was waved on this lap and his time was cancelled. The Frenchman had to start in 7th position.
In front of him, three drivers could be pleased to have confirmed their potential, which has not always been easy to express in Qualifying this season. Germany’s Max Reis was 3rd ahead of Enzo Richer, while Paul Alberto emerged in P6 just behind Romain Andriolo, who remains a strong contender for the Championship podium.
The top 10 was completed by Belgium’s Yani Stevenheydens, Romania’s Andreï Duna and Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, who will have the honour of starting 1st in Race 2. The grid for Race 3 will be formed by the second best times of each driver. Peugeot will again be on pole ahead of Foster, but this time Andriolo will start 3rd ahead of Alberto and Giltaire.
> Weekend programme
Saturday 23th September: Race 1 (09:05 – 09:35) and Race 2 (15:35 – 16:05)
Sunday 24th September: Race 3 (09:45 – 10:15)
