Six drivers from four different nationalities had the honour of standing on the podium in the first two F4 races at Magny-Cours. Barter dominated the first race from pole position, while Nomura beat Provost in the second.
In almost summery weather, the drivers of the FIA-certified French F4 Championship actively participated in the liveliness of Saturday’s race organised within the framework of the prestigious GT World Challenge. The title contenders were clearly visible in Timed Practice and in Race 1, with Australian Hugh Barter winning ahead of Frenchman Elliott Vayron and Japan’s Souta Arao. As expected with the grid inversion for Race 2, the hierarchy changed dramatically with a second win this season for Japanese driver Yuto Nomura ahead of Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Colombian Jeronimo Berrio.
Race 1: Hugh Barter in control
Barter had an idyllic Qualifying session on Friday afternoon, taking a magnificent double pole position. He was on the front row for Race 1 on Saturday morning, with the fast Swiss driver Dario Cabanelas at his side, Elliott Vayron and the rapid Belgian Lorens Lecertua behind him. The start saw Vayron overtake Cabanelas, who had to suffer the assaults of Lecertua.
Barter didn’t stay under pressure for long, as he quickly distanced himself from the chasers, who stayed in a group. The Australian didn’t make any mistake and took his fourth victory of the season ahead of Vayron. Behind him, Lecertua hit the rear tyre of Cabanelas, who retired with a flat tyre with many regrets, as the Swiss driver had just set the fastest lap in the race. Japanese driver Souta Arao took 3rd place ahead of Alessandro Giusti. Lecertua was penalised by 30 seconds, while Colombian Jeronimo Berrio created a sensation by entering the top five. Enzo Peugeot gained no less than seven places to finish 6th ahead of Edgar Pierre and Louis Pelet, in the points for the first time this season.
Race 2: A second success for Yuto Nomura
Following the principle of a reversed grid for the top ten finishers in the Qualifying session, Pierre-Alexandre Provost started from pole position and kept Japan’s Yuto Nomura at bay throughout the first lap. Nomura pushed hard and a few minutes later found the opening. Although he was never able to pull away from Provost despite setting the fastest lap in the race, he ended up winning Race 2, as he had done at Nogaro.
Confident after his performance in Race 1, Colombian Jeronimo Berrio mounted the podium for the first time in this Championship brilliantly managed by the FFSA Academy. Behind Lorens Lecertua, who was alone in 4th position, a constant battle took place during the 13 laps of the race between Arao, Peugeot, Pelet and Cabanelas. They finally finished in this order. Although Louis Pelet regretted having lost places at the beginning of the race in which he started in 3rd position, Peugeot again showed its fighting spirit by coming back from 13th to 6th place. Caught up in a collision at the start, Hugh Barter crashed at the back of the field. 5th on the grid, Alessandro Giusti had a problem from the start and could not join the fight for the podium.
Continuation of the programme at Magny-Cours: Race 3, Sunday 15th May from 09:00 to 09:25
> Ranking of Race 1
1 Hugh Barter (Australia) with 13 laps
2 Elliott Vayron (France) at 1″230
3 Souta Arao (Japan) at 1″544
4 Alessandro Giusti (France) at 3″148
5 Jeronimo Berrio (Colombia) at 6″272
6 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 6″737
7 Edgar Pierre (France) at 7″748
8 Louis Pelet (France) at 8″049
9 Yuto Nomura (Japan) at 8″526
10 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 10″101
11 Romain Andriolo (France) at 12″547
12 Enzo Geraci (France) at 14″745
13 Mateo Villagomez (Ecuador) at 19″609
14 Max Reis (Germany) at 23″827
15 Pablo Sarrazin (France) at 24″890
16 Leny Réveillère (France) at 25″714
17 Pol Lopez Gutierrez (Andorra) at 26″091
18 Lorens Lecertua (Belgium) at 35″993
19 Enzo Richer (France) at 36″238
20 Amir Sayed (India) at 40″436
21 Luciano Morano (France) at 1’19″185
22 Antoine Fernande (France) at 2’05″208
23 Valentino Mini (Panama) at 1 lap
24 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 2 laps
FL : Dario Cabanelas in 1’41″264
> Race 2 ranking
1 Yuto Nomura (Japan) with 13 laps
2 Pierre-Alexandre Provost (France) at 0″807
3 Jeronimo Berrio (Colombia) at 1″255
4 Lorens Lecertua (Belgium) at 3″753
5 Souta Arao (Japan) at 10″844
6 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 11″008
7 Louis Pelet (France) at 12″141
8 Dario Cabanelas (Switzerland) at 12″994
9 Max Reis (Germany) at 15″761
10 Pol Lopez Gutierrez (Andorra) at 18″516
11 Enzo Geraci (France) at 20″767
12 Edgar Pierre (France) at 21″422
13 Valentino Mini (Panama) at 21″850
14 Elliott Vayron (France) at 22″504
15 Enzo Richer (France) at 22″842
16 Mateo Villagomez (Ecuador) at 23″353
17 Romain Andriolo (France) at 26″031
18 Pablo Sarrazin (France) at 27″138
19 Amir Sayed (India) at 32″917
20 Hugh Barter (Australia) at 34″892
21 Luciano Morano (France) at 36″951
22 Antoine Fernande (France) at 49″276
23 Leny Réveillère (France) at 49″276
24 Alessandro Giusti (France), non-starter
FL: Yuto Nomura in 1’41″641
