Already the winner of Race 1, Taito Kato pulled off a fine piece of work in the penultimate round of the French F4 Championship by winning Race 3. The Japanese driver got the better of Jules Caranta and moved to within six points of leader Yani Stevenheydens.
The French F4 Championship run by the FFSA Academy continues to be full of upsets and intense moments. Three talented drivers, each with four victories to their name, continue to lead the way. It’s all to play for on the Paul Ricard circuit from 4th to 6th October between Belgium’s Yani Stevenheydens (252 points), Japan’s Taito Kato (246 points) and France’s Jules Caranta (235 points). In addition to Kato, the Dijon event also confirmed the rise of Germany’s Montego Maassen, who finished 3rd in Race 3 after taking 2nd place on Saturday.
Taito Kato in control in Race 3
Taito Kato, who scored a double pole position on Friday, had the advantage of starting from pole position again and took advantage of this to take the lead at the first corner from Yani Stevenheydens. Andorran driver Frank Porte Ruiz, who is used to excellent starts, justified his reputation by moving up from 7th to 3rd on the first lap. Jules Caranta, on the other hand, was locked in and dropped to 6th behind Augustin Bernier and Montego Maassen. After gaining several places thanks to an excellent start, British driver Gabriel Doyle-Parfait went off the track after a duel in the middle of the pack. The safety car entered the track, cancelling out the gaps that some drivers had managed to create.
At the green flag, Stevenheydens tried to overtake Kato, but the leader held on and resumed his advance, setting the fastest lap of the race. Behind the Japanese and the Belgian, who finished in that order, Maassen took the podium by overtaking Porte Ruiz. Bernier, who had given way to Caranta after the restart, regained 5th place with two laps to go. Starting 11th and moving up to 7th, Luxembourger Chester Kieffer retained his 4th place in the Championship against the combative Rayan Caretti. The Frenchman from Thailand spared no effort to move up five places to 8th. Enzo Caldaras ended a difficult meeting on a positive note with a comeback in 9th place ahead of Dylan Estre. The latter made another brilliant start to the race, before dropping back due to severe tyre wear. After a difficult first lap, Jules Roussel was just outside the points in 11th ahead of Arthur Dorison.
> Race 3 standings
1 Taito Kato (Japan) with 15 laps
2 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 4.401
3 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 5.262
4 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 7.461
5 Augustin Bernier (France) at 8.964
6 Jules Caranta (France) at 10.065
7 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) at 10.266
8 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) at 10.638
9 Enzo Caldaras (France) at 12.903
10 Dylan Estre (France) at 15.770
11 Jules Roussel (France) at 15.961
12 Arthur Dorison (France) at 16.487
13 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 17.036
14 Edouard Borgna (France) at 17.416
15 Tom Le Brech (France) at 17.626
16 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 18.763
17 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) at 19.679
18 Karel Schulz (France) at 20.198
19 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 23.080
20 Jason Leung (Canada) at 23.479
21 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) at 32.274
22 Lisa Billard (France) with 13 laps
23 Louis Schlesser (France) at 13 laps
24 Roméo Leurs (France) with 4 laps
25 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) with 3 laps
26 Paul Roques (France) with 3 laps
FL: Kato in 1:17.453 (avg. 176.6 km/h)
> Championship standings after Magny-Cours
1 Stevenheydens 252 pts, 2 Kato 246 pts, 3 Caranta 235 pts, 4 Kieffer 116 pts, 5 Caretti 109 pts, 6 Porte Ruiz 99 pts, 7 Bernier 92 pts, 8 Maassen 60 pts, 9 Roussel 58 pts, 10 Megna 48 pts, 11 O’Grady 44 pts, 12 Estre 40 pts, 13 Caldaras 35 pts, 14 Leung 33 pts, 15 Dorison 21 pts, 16 Schulz 20 pts, 17 Doyle-Parfait 19 pts, 18 Munoz 3 pts, 19 Borgna 1 pt.
> Seventh and final round from 4th to 6th October on the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet (83)
