Winner of Race 1, Alex Munoz doubled up in Race 3 on Easter Monday in his native Occitane region. The young French hopeful leaves the Gers as leader after the first round of the 2025 French F4 Championship.
FFSA Academy Formula 4 was undoubtedly one of the star disciplines of the 58th edition of the Easter Cup, with its impressive international field of 30 drivers representing no fewer than 10 nationalities. With its high profile and unique concept guaranteeing training, detection and sporting fairness, the French Championship never ceases to attract interest.
Overcast skies but a dry track in Race 3
The second best laps of each driver’s Qualifying session determined the starting grid for Race 3, with Alex Munoz on pole ahead of Jules Roussel, Thomas Senecloze and Guillaume Bouzar on the second row. The grid had been defined during a session that was largely disrupted by rain. As a result, many changes were expected with the return of Pirelli slick tyres for the third and final race of this season-opening event.
When the lights went out, none of the top three drivers missed a beat. The first lap proved to be rather tumultuous. Bouzar lost a few places, but that was nothing compared to Mattéo Giaccardi, who found himself off the track after contact with an opponent, and above all Arthur Dorison, who was forced to return to the pit lane because of a problem. Louis Iglesias, who started 13th, got off to a magnificent start, immediately moving up to 8th place, even though the safety car was already out due to an incident involving Germany’s Montego Maassen, China’s Zhelin Shen and Paul Roques. Only the latter managed to continue.
Pole converted into victory for Alex Munoz
On the return of the green flag, Munoz and Roussel got away, leaving Senecloze under pressure from several drivers. On lap 5, Rafaël Perard tried to overtake Roméo Leurs, but the two drivers tangled and retired. Louis Iglesias, who had already made an excellent recovery, got the better of Thomas Senecloze, followed by Guillaume Bouzar, Malo Bolliet and Rayan Caretti, under the watchful eye of Andy Consani, who had also made a very combative start to the race.
At the front, Roussel pushed hard throughout the race, but was unable to get the better of Munoz, who responded by setting the fastest lap of the race. A final period behind the safety car definitively dashed Roussel’s last hopes. Munoz took his second victory of the meeting ahead of Roussel, Iglesias, Bouzar and Bolliet. Caretti made a brilliant comeback from 17th place and passed Senecloze on the final lap.
However, a number of drivers were penalised and lost the chance to score points in Race 3, including Caretti, Consani and Lisa Billard, who had initially finished 11th and was the top woman. Senecloze regained 6th place ahead of Hugo Herrouin, who finished on a positive and encouraging note. Ranked 8th and 9th respectively, Pablo Riccobono Bello and Italian Niccolo Pirri scored their first F4 points. Giaccardi, who was able to restart after his incident at the start, snatched the last place in the top 10.
Annabelle Brian just outside the top 10 and leading the women’s ranking
As in Race 1, Dutchwoman Annabelle Brian put in the best performance among the women, ahead of Jade Jacquet and Angelina Proenca. The three young drivers finished between 11th and 13th, all within touching distance of the points!
In the Championship standings, Munoz already has 60 points, compared with 40 for Roussel and 27 for Dorison. A number of drivers are also within a few points of each other. The season has only just begun!
> Race 3 standings
1 Alexandre Munoz (France) with 15 laps
2 Jules Roussel (France) at 0.718
3 Louis Iglesias (France) at 1.829
4 Guillaume Bouzar (France) at 2.177
5 Malo Bolliet (France) at 2.387
6 Thomas Senecloze (France) at 4.562
7 Hugo Herrouin (France) at 5.293
8 Pablo Riccobono Bello (France) at 5.717
9 Niccolo Pirri (Italy) at 6.851
10 Mattéo Giaccardi (Monaco) at 7.140
11 (F) Annabelle Brian (Netherlands) at 8.280
12 (F) Jade Jacquet (France) at 8.890
13 (F) Angelina Proenca (France) at 9.302
14 Nicolas Pasquier (France) at 11.883
15 Pierre Devos (France) at 12.304
16 Paul Roques (France) at 12.676
17 Rayan Caretti (France) at 22.863
18 Andy Consani (France) at 24.843
19 (F) Lisa Billard (France) at 26.100
20 (F) Héloïse Goldberg (France) at 27.385
21 (F) Sofia Zanfari (Morocco) with 14 laps
22 Hugo Martiniello (France) with 14 laps
23 Léandre Carvalho (Portugal) with 14 laps
24 Rintaro Sato (Japan) with 13 laps
25 Arthur Dorison (France) with 12 laps
26 Sasha Milojkovic (Australia) with 11 laps
27 Roméo Leurs (France) with 4 laps
28 Rafaël Perard (France) with 4 laps
29 Montego Maassen (Germany) with 0 laps
30 Zhelin Shen (China) with 0 laps
Best lap: Munoz in 1:25.845 (avg. 152.4 km/h)
(F): Women
> Championship standings after Nogaro
1 Munoz 60 pts, 2 Roussel 40 pts, 3 Dorison 27 pts, 4 Perard 24 pts, 5 Iglesias 19 pts, 6 Giaccardi 18 pts, 7 Consani 16 pts, 8 Bolliet 13 pts, 9 Bouzar 12 pts, 10 Senecloze 12 pts, 11 Caretti 10 pts, 12 Herrouin 6 pts, 13 Riccobono Bello Pablo 4 pts, 14 Leurs 2 pts, 15 Pirri 2 pts.
> Next races in 2025: Dijon (9th-11th May), Spa Francorchamps-Belgium (20th-22nd June), Magny-Cours (1st-3rd August), Lédenon (12th-14th September) and Le Mans (25th-27th September).
