Dominant in the rain at Spa, Luxembourg’s Kieffer dominated Race 1 ahead of Japan’s Kato and Belgium’s Stevenheydens. Kato in turn claimed a second win of the season with a brilliant recovery from 7th in Race 2.
As is often the case at Spa Francorchamps, the drivers in the French F4 Championship run by the FFSA Academy had to contend with changing weather conditions on Saturday. In the morning, the track remained soggy throughout Race 1, which was run on wet tyres. The weather was much more pleasant at the start of Race 2, but with just a few laps to go, scattered raindrops made their way onto a small part of the long Belgian circuit during Race 2 when the drivers were on slicks. Already very compact since the lights went out, the leading pack experienced even more intense duels, leading to constant changes in the ranking.
Race 1: Kieffer’s rise to prominence continues
Boosted by his first pole position and first F4 win in May at Lédenon, Chester Kieffer confirmed his potential at Spa Francorchamps in the first race of the meeting. Yani Stevenheydens had won his place on the inside of the front row in Friday’s Qualifying session, but was overtaken on the first lap by Frenchman Jules Caranta and the Luxembourger. Japanese driver Taito Kato also joined the fray. It wasn’t until a few laps later that the situation stabilised, with Kieffer taking the lead and Stevenheydens and Kato following in his wake. Caranta was dropped, finding himself under threat from Ryan Caretti, who had come back from 8th place.
Although the positions on the track remained unchanged, Stevenheydens was given a 10-second penalty by the stewards and dropped back a place. Victory went to Kieffer ahead of Kato, Stevenheydens, Caranta, Caretti and Andorran Frank Porte Ruiz.
Race 2: Kato impresses, Roussel and Estre celebrate their first podium finishes
Thanks to favourable weather conditions, the FFSA Academy mechanics were able to fit the FIA-certified F4 single-seaters with slick tyres. Jules Roussel started from pole position in accordance with the reverse grid rule for the top 10 finishers in the Qualifying session, and got off to an impeccable start ahead of Britain’s Gabriel Doyle-Parfait, who was quickly put under pressure by Augustin Bernier. The two drivers exchanged positions several times under the watchful eye of Irishman Alex O’Grady. Meanwhile, the leaders of Race 1 like Kato, Stevenheydens and Kieffer spared no effort to come back in their wake, joined by the combative Dylan Estre.
The suspense lasted right to the end, all the more so as the rain began to fall, but only in the area of the Source bend, which once again lived up to its name! Kato took advantage to try his luck on Roussel, who was obviously more cautious coming into this tricky section. Kato held off Roussel to the end and went on to win the race with a second successive fastest lap. Behind, the situation changed, with Estre almost simultaneously passing the quartet of Doyle-Parfait, Bernier, Stevenheydens and Kieffer to cross the finish line in 3rd position. This was eventually taken away from him due to a five-second penalty. While Estre dropped to 10th, Bernier completed the top three, having held off Stevenheydens and Kieffer. Doyle-Parfait lost a few more places in the closing laps, to the detriment of Caranta and O’Grady, who finished 6th and 7th respectively. Doyle-Parfait saved a point for 8th place ahead of Canadian Jason Leung.
> Continuation of the programme at Spa Francorchamps (Belgium): Race 3, Sunday 23rd June from 09:15 to 09:45.
> Qualifying session: 1 Stevenheydens in 2:38.536, 2 Caranta in 2:38.546, 3 Kieffer in 2:38.668, 4 Kato in 2:38.789, 5 Bernier in 2:39.743, 6 Porte Ruiz in 2:39.829, 7 O’Grady in 2:39.905, 8 Caretti in 2:40.112, 9 Doyle-Parfait in 2:40.241, 10 Roussel in 2:40.273, etc.
> Race 1 standings
1 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) with 9 laps
2 Taito Kato (Japan) at 2.410
3 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 10.528
4 Jules Caranta (France) at 11.006
5 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) at 11.760
6 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) at 14.409
7 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 19.036
8 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 20.236
9 Augustin Bernier (France) at 20.892
10 Jules Roussel (France) at 22.258
11 Dylan Estre (France) at 22.922
12 Arthur Dorison (France) at 24.555
13 Enzo Caldaras (France) at 34.562
14 Roméo Leurs (France) at 35.198
15 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 35.495
16 Karel Schulz (France) at 36.591
17 Jason Leung (Canada) at 44.834
18 Paul Roques (France) at 51.733
19 Louis Schlesser (France) at 57.047
20 Arjun Chheda (India) at 1:02.030
21 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 1:04.602
22 Tom Le Brech (France) at 2:21.300
23 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 2:22.257
24 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) with 8 laps
25 Edouard Borgna (France), retired on lap 1
FL: Kato in 2:37.295 (avg. 160.3 km/h)
> Race 2 standings
1 Taito Kato (Japan) with 10 laps
2 Jules Roussel (France) at 0.285
3 Augustin Bernier (France) at 1.630
4 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) at 1.841
5 Chester Kieffer (Luxembourg) at 2.173
6 Jules Caranta (France) at 3.276
7 Alex O’Grady (Ireland) at 3.666
8 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain) at 4.276
9 Jason Leung (Canada) at 5.029
10 Dylan Estre (France) at 6.070
11 Karel Schulz (France) at 6.614
12 Arthur Dorison (France) at 8.982
13 Roméo Leurs (France) at 11.827
14 Edouard Borgna (France) at 13.767
15 Leonardo Megna (Italy) at 14.920
16 Alexandre Munoz (France) at 16.477
17 Louis Schlesser (France) at 22.176
18 Tom Le Brech (France) at 22.380
19 Arjun Chheda (India) at 24.900
20 Mathilda Paatz (Germany) at 32.346
21 Montego Maassen (Germany) at 37.906
22 Paul Roques (France) with 9 laps
23 Rayan Caretti (Thailand) with 4 laps
24 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) with 3 laps
25 Enzo Caldaras (France) with 2 laps
FL: Kato in 2:22.539 (avg. 176.8 km/h)
Info FFSA Academy / Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve