Poleman after an eventful Qualifying session, Enzo Peugeot scored a brilliant 5th victory in Race 1. The Frenchman provisionally regained the lead of the French F4 Championship, which celebrated its eighth winner in the form of Belgian Yani Stevenheydens.
Evan Giltaire and Enzo Peugeot, the main protagonists of the FIA-certified French F4 Championship, immediately found themselves neck and neck on the first official day of the Lédenon meeting, with Giltaire setting the fastest time in Free Practice just ahead of his rival. The battle continued in Qualifying, with Canadian Kevin Foster acting as mediator. After a double neutralisation caused by two red flags, everything came to a head in the final minutes. Peugeot replaced Foster at the top of the order, before seeing Giltaire improve just before the chequered flag. However, this final lap was cancelled in the end as it had been run with the yellow flag out on one section of the circuit.
Race 1: Victory and fastest lap for Enzo Peugeot
Determined to turn his pole position into victory, Peugeot kept a tight rein on his rivals. His perfect start enabled him to open up a gap on Kevin Foster, who was himself shielding himself from an attack from the drivers in the chasing pack. The leader explained: “I really like the Lédenon circuit and I felt really comfortable behind the wheel. The fact that Kevin was never a real threat meant that I was able to drive calmly without forcing the tyres. He came back slightly in the last part of the race, but I was able to control my lead perfectly. It was important to win again for the sake of the Championship, especially as I also picked up the fastest lap point.”
Max Reis, who posted his best Qualifying performance of the season, spent a long time alone in 3rd place, before seeing Enzo Richer, Romain Andriolo and Evan Giltaire come back in his wake. Reis saved his first 2023 podium by 65 thousandths at the last minute. Paul Alberto, the youngest driver in the category who had confirmed his progress by qualifying 6th, lost two places at the start. He then overtook Romanian Andrei Duna to finish 7th, his best result since his F4 debut. Belgian Yani Stevenheydens, who started 13th, made a fine comeback to finish 8th ahead of Duna and Germany’s Tom Kalender. Race incidents eliminated a number of drivers, including Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi, who was 5th in the overall standings when he arrived in the Gard region.
Race 2: Stevenheydens wins his duel with Yamakoshi
The sixth and penultimate round of the Championship run by the FFSA Academy saw the arrival of a new driver, the eighth in 2023, Belgian Yani Stevenheydens. 3rd on the starting grid, defined in reverse order to the Qualifying session for the top ten, the driver scouted by the RACB immediately overtook the Romanian Duna, before the safety car had to be brought out to evacuate Karel Schulz’s car, who was caught up in a collision in the triple left.
When the green flags came back out, Stevenheydens managed the restart perfectly and completed a magnificent pass on Yamakoshi to take the lead, while setting the fastest lap. Evan Giltaire was unable to keep up with the pace set by the two frontrunners and had to work hard to hold off Paul Alberto and take 3rd place on the podium. Behind them, there was a superb duel between Romain Andriolo and Enzo Richer, which ended in Richer’s favour. The end of the race was difficult for Andriolo, who lost another place to Foster, then three more following a penalty. Enzo Peugeot scored the points for 7th place ahead of the Germans Max Reis and Finn Wiebelhaus.
Continuation of the programme at Lédenon: Race 3, Sunday 24th September 2023 from 09:45 to 10:15
> Race 1 standings
1 Enzo Peugeot (France) with 16 laps
2 Kevin Foster (Canada) at 0.929
3 Max Reis (Germany) at 7.120
4 Enzo Richer (France) at 7.185
5 Romain Andriolo (France) at 7.756
6 Evan Giltaire (France) at 8.343
7 Paul Alberto (France) at 16.570
8 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 19.208
9 Andrei Duna (Romania) at 21.892
10 Tom Kalender (Germany) at 23.502
11 Garrett Berry (United States) at 25.521
12 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 26.671
13 Pol Lopez (Spain) at 30.161
14 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 31.586
15 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 31.646
16 Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany) at 32.228
17 Louis Schlesser (France) at 32.680
18 Luca Savu (Romania) at 36.380
19 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia) at 36.532
20 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine) at 37.198
21 Edouard Borgna (France) at 41.096
22 Edgar Pierre (France) at 1:02.589
23 Jason Leung (Canada), retired on lap 7
24 Karel Schulz (France), retired on lap 7
25 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan), retired on lap 3
26 Adrien Closmenil (France), retired on lap 1
Pole position: Peugeot in 1:21.686
FL: Peugeot in 1:21.592 (avg. 139.2 km)
> Race 2 standings
1 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) with 14 laps
2 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan) at 2.140
3 Evan Giltaire (France) at 6.546
4 Paul Alberto (France) at 6.868
5 Enzo Richer (France) at 7.966
6 Kevin Foster (Canada) at 13.851
7 Enzo Peugeot (France) at 17.336
8 Max Reis (Germany) at 20.121
9 Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany) at 20.330
10 Romain Andriolo (France) at 15.538 (+ 3 places)
11 Tom Kalender (Germany) at 21.174
12 Jason Leung (Canada) at 21.389
13 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 21.835
14 Edgar Pierre (France) at 22.247
15 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 24.248 (+1 place)
16 Andrei Duna (Romania) at 22.676
17 Luca Savu (Romania) at 25.041
18 Pol Lopez (Spain) at 26.043
19 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 26.327
20 Louis Schlesser (France) at 28.983
21 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine) at 30.050
22 Edouard Borgna (France) at 32.933
23 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia) at 45.914
24 Garrett Berry (United States), retired on lap 9
25 Adrien Closmenil (France), retired on lap 10
26 Karel Schulz (France), retired on lap 1
FL: Stevenheydens in 1:21.674 (avg. 139.1 km)
