Andy Consani took pole position, Alex Munoz won Race 1 and Arthur Dorison won Race 2, setting the scene for an exciting final confrontation at Nogaro.
Munoz Alex, F4, FRA, MYGALE / RENAULT / PIRELLI, FFSA Academy, Championnat de France, NOGARO, National Race, © KSP Reportages
The first two official days of the Easter Cup set the tone for what promises to be a particularly open 2025 season. With a record 30 entries, including six women, the launch of the French Formula 4 Championship was no easy task for the young drivers of the FFSA Academy. Rain disrupted Saturday’s Free Practice and Qualifying sessions, then the track dried out for Race 1 on Saturday morning, before wet conditions returned in the afternoon for Race 2. The motor sport hopefuls were well served in terms of difficulty, given that most of them were taking part in their very first single-seater race!
Victory for the regional champion in Race 1
Starting from pole position, Andy Consani did not miss the first start of his F4 career. On a completely dry track, he completed the first lap in the lead ahead of Alexandre Munoz and Jules Roussel, who also retained their positions. On the other hand, Italian Niccolo Pirri and Lisa Billard crashed out of the top 10, while Louis Iglesias went the other way, climbing from 14th to 9th place. A collision between Hugo Herrouin and Paul Roques led to the first appearance of the safety car. Shortly after the race resumed, Munoz got the better of Consani. In the pack, a number of overtaking manoeuvres kept the race lively.
A second incident, this time involving Pablo Riccobono Bello in 10th place, brought the safety car back on track. Trapped during the neutralisation, Japanese driver Rintaro Sato made contact with Guillaume Bouzar’s car. The two drivers’ races finished there and then! The battle for the podium resumed once the 30 cars had been restarted. Rafaël Perard, who started 5th, had already overtaken Monegasque Mattéo Giaccardi at the start and went on to take on Jules Roussel. He used the last third of the race to overtake Consani for 2nd place. Despite a final push from Arthur Dorison on Andy Consani for a place on the podium, the positions remained unchanged.
Alex Munoz, who hails from a village in the Ariège region of France, some fifty kilometres from Toulouse, welcomed this victory in his home region of Occitanie with great satisfaction, some six months after his first F4 success at Paul Ricard at the end of 2024. Jules Roussel finished 5th ahead of Rayan Caretti, who came back brilliantly from 13th position. Mattéo Giaccardi, Louis Iglesias, Roméo Leurs and Malo Bolliet collected the final points of this first race of the season.
Rain returns in Race 2
As in the Qualifying session, the rain tyres were fitted by the FFSA Academy’s efficient team of mechanics. Behind the spray of water, the first laps were marked by several incidents. While Pablo Riccobono Bello and Lisa Billard had taken their place on the front row according to the principle of the inverted grid for the top 10 qualifiers, these two drivers were quickly relegated to the back of the field, as were Andy Consani and Italian Niccolo Pirri. Roméo Leurs went no further due to a damaged rear axle. Logically, the race management brought out the red flag.
At the restart, the Academicians showed themselves to be much more solid and diligent despite the track still being as treacherous as ever. After having manoeuvred perfectly to take the lead at the end of this critical moment in the race, Arthur Dorison escaped in the company of Rafaël Perard and Jules Roussel. On the 10th of 14 laps, Roussel overtook Perard and launched an attack on Dorison. The Normandy native was dominant right to the end, taking his first victory in the discipline.
More in difficulty in the final laps, Perard crashed out in 5th place behind Mattéo Giaccardi and Alex Munoz. The Monegasque set the fastest lap of the race on his recovery from 7th place, while Alex scored important points in the Championship after his success in the morning. Starting 12th and 13th respectively, Thomas Senecloze and Rayan Caretti put in a perfect clear round to climb back up to 6th and 7th, the last point going to Malo Bolliet who held off Louis Iglesias.
Annabelle Brian and Lisa Billard on the top steps
In Race 1, Annabelle Brian inaugurated the first podium of the season for the top women. The Dutchwoman made the difference against Angelina Proenca and Sofia Zanfari. Lacking success in Race 1, Lisa Billard took her revenge in Race 2 by just over a second from Annabelle Brian. This second top three finish of the season in the women’s category was completed by Jade Jacquet.
Continuation of the programme at Nogaro: Race 3, Monday 21st April from 11:05 to 11:40
> Qualifying session: 1 Consani in 1:47.082, 2 Munoz in 1:47.242, 3 Roussel in 1:47.383, 4 Giaccardi in 1:47.541, 5 Perard in 1:47.612, 6 Pirri in 1:47.639, 7 Leurs in 1:47.813, 8 Dorison in 1:47.849, 9 Billard in 1:48.047, 10 Riccobono Bello in 1:48.119, etc.
> Race 1 standings
1 Alexandre Munoz (France) with 17 laps
2 Rafaël Perard (France) at 0.794
3 Andy Consani (France) at 1.419
4 Arthur Dorison (France) at 2.233
5 Jules Roussel (France) at 3.125
6 Rayan Caretti (France) at 3.955
7 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) at 4.569
8 Louis Iglesias (France) at 5.004
9 Roméo Leurs (France) at 5.723
10 Malo Bolliet (France) at 6.326
11 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 7.172
12 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 7.947
13 Hugo Martiniello (France) at 8.884
14 Jason Shen (China) at 10.061
15 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) at 11.203
16 (F) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 12.050
17 Pierre Devos (France) at 13.301
18 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 14.468
19 (F) Angelina Proenca (France) at 15.337
20 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) at 17.195
21 (F) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 17.667
22 (F) Jade Jacquet (France) at 18.187
23 (F) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 18.938
24 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) with 15 laps
25 Rintaro Sato (Japan) with 14 laps
26 (F) Lisa Billard (France) with 14 laps
27 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) with 8 laps
28 Guillaume Bouzar (France) with 8 laps
29 Hugo Herrouin (France) with 0 laps
30 Paul Roques (France) with 0 laps
Best lap: Bolliet in 1:26.046 (avg. 152.1 km/h)
> Race 2 standings
1 Arthur Dorison (France) with 14 laps
2 Jules Roussel (France) at 0.318
3 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) at 1.973
4 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 3.892
5 Rafaël Perard (France) at 6.338
6 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 12.429
7 Rayan Caretti (France) at 12.501
8 Malo Bolliet (France) at 13.316
9 Louis Iglesias (France) at 13.599
10 Andy Consani (France) at 16.317
11 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 17.950
12 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 25.711
13 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 34.453
14 Hugo Martiniello (France) at 36.195
15 Pierre Devos (France) at 44.177
16 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) at 44.427
17 (F) Lisa Billard (France) at 44.708
18 (F) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 45.938
19 (F) Jade Jacquet (France) at 49.520
20 Jason Shen (China) at 59.672
21 (F) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) at 1:08.750
22 (F) Angelina Proenca (France) at 1:16.710
23 (F) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 1:37.042
24 Nicolas Pasquier (France) with 9 laps
25 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) with 3 laps
26 Roméo Leurs (France) with 2 laps
27 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) with 2 laps
28 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) with 1 lap
29 Paul Roques (France) with 1 lap
30 Rintaro Sato (Japan) with 1 lap
Best lap: Giaccardi in 1:43.767 (avg. 126.1 km/h)
(F): Women
