Under sunny skies at Magny-Cours, Jules Caranta ousted Yani Stevenheydens from pole position in Race 1, with Taito Kato completing the podium. Race 2 saw Karel Schulz take his first ever F4 victory.
The duel between the top two finishers in the 2024 Championship got underway in Qualifying on Friday. Jules Caranta was the first to take the lead in this important session, which was interrupted in the middle by a red flag. Belgian Yani Stevenheydens then made the most of the last few minutes to improve on the time set by the Frenchman to secure pole position. Germany’s Montego Maassen finally managed to squeeze into 2nd position, setting the scene for some exciting racing on the Nièvre circuit.
Race 1: Caranta surprises Stevenheydens
On Saturday morning, the confrontation between the current top two protagonists of French F4 continued, to the delight of all observers. Stevenheydens managed his start perfectly, while Caranta immediately followed in his opponent’s wake. Maassen had just lost three places, with Japan’s Taito Kato and Augustin Bernier moving up to 3rd and 4th respectively. Further back, Canadian Jason Leung did well to move up from 12th to 9th behind Leonardo Megna, Arthur Dorison and Karel Schulz, while Andorran Frank Porte Ruiz dropped down the order after an incident on the Adelaide braking zone.
A few laps later, a tangle at the rear of the field brought out the safety car. Shortly after the green flag, Caranta pulled off a fine manoeuvre to pass Stevenheydens between Adelaide and the Nürburgring. Once in the lead, Jules Caranta gave his all to hold off his Belgian rival to claim his fourth victory of the season. Taito Kato took the third step on the podium, confirming that he had every intention of staying in the title race. Augustin Bernier kept Montego Maassen behind him right to the end to take 4th place. Arthur Dorison finished 6th after getting the better of Italy’s Leonardo Megna. Irishman Alex O’Grady, who started 14th, came home 9th between Jason Leung and Karel Schulz. Luxembourg’s Chester Kieffer moved up nine places to 11th ahead of Germany’s Mathilda Paatz, who had her best race of the season.
Race 2: Schulz holds off Stevenheydens
The inverted grid saw Frenchman Enzo Caldaras and Germany’s Mathilda Paatz on the front row. However, Paatz stalled and allowed Karel Schulz to threaten the leader. Schulz went on to take the lead in Race 2, just before the safety car entered the track. In addition to the incident involving Dylan Estre, who has been unlucky since the start of the meeting, a collision in Adelaide ruined the chances of Jason Leung and Montego Maassen.
Stevenheydens managed the many intense duels in the top 10 and the in-and-out of the safety car perfectly, and was the main beneficiary of the race, constantly gaining positions. Despite starting in 10th position, he ended up making great strides towards the leader Karel Schulz, who managed to score a magnificent victory on the line, his first in F4. After the finish, Stevenheydens found himself out of the points after a penalty for his start procedure. Still close to the leader, Enzo Caldaras held on for 2nd place on Saturday afternoon, with Leonardo Megna completing the top three.
Just behind, a last-minute duel slightly altered the hierarchy on the final lap, with Jules Caranta back in 4th ahead of Arthur Dorison, Frank Porte Ruiz (+7), Augustin Bernier and Alex O’Grady. Given a penalty, Bernier dropped down the order, giving the Irishman 7th place and the final point to Taito Kato at the expense of Alexandre Munoz and Chester Kieffer.
The Magny-Cours programme continues: Race 3, Sunday 25th August from 08:25 to 08:55
> Qualifying session: 1 Stevenheydens in 1:40.119, 2 Maassen in 1:40.424, 3 Caranta in 1:40.514, 4 Bernier in 1:40.539, 5 Kato in 1:40.594, 6 Megna in 1:40.773, 7 Dorison in 1:40.911, 8 Schultz in 1:41.072, 9 Paatz in 1:41.075, 10 Caldaras in 1:41.097, etc.
> Race 1 standings
1 Jules Caranta (France) with 12 laps
2 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 0.669
3 Taito Kato (Japan) at 1.181
4 Augustin Bernier (France) at 2.864
5 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 3.161
6 Arthur Dorison (France) at 5.354
7 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 6.861
8 Jason Leung (Canada) at 7.399
9 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 9.250
10 Karel Schulz (France) at 10.067
11 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) at 10.278
12 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) at 11.185
13 Roméo Leurs (France) at 12.084
14 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 12.415
15 Enzo Caldaras (France) at 13.046
16 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 13.496
17 Arjun Chheda (India) at 13.839
18 Jules Roussel (France) at 14.648
19 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 15.139
20 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) at 15.494
21 Tom Le Brech (France) at 16.272
22 Paul Roques (France) at 1:04.573
23 Louis Schlesser (France) with 5 laps
24 Lisa Billard (France) with 5 laps
25 Edouard Borgna (France) with 4 laps
26 Dylan Estre (France) with 3 laps
FL: Stevenheydens in 1:40.820 (avg. 157.5 km/h)
> Race 2 standings
1 Karel Schulz (France) with 10 laps
2 Enzo Caldaras (France) at 0.942
3 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 1.371
4 Jules Caranta (France) at 3.485
5 Arthur Dorison (France) at 4.160
6 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 4.202
7 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 5.480
8 Taito Kato (Japan) at 5.546
9 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 5.899
10 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) at 6.332
11 Jules Roussel (France) at 6.566
12 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) at 6.775
13 Louis Schlesser (France) at 7.332
14 Edouard Borgna (France) at 8.620
15 Tom Le Brech (France) at 8.935
16 Lisa Billard (France) at 13.835
17 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 15.200
18 Paul Roques (France) at 18.656
19 Augustin Bernier (France) at 19.404
20 Arjun Chheda (India) at 19.787
21 Roméo Leurs (France) at 25.343
22 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) at 34.680
23 Montego Maassen (Germany) at
24 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) with 6 laps
25 Jason Leung (Canada) with 3 laps
26 Dylan Estre (France), DNS
FL: Stevenheydens in 1:42.133 (avg. 155.4 km/h)
