Before the final round on the Paul Ricard circuit the ASA trainees raced at Jerez in Spain on 18-19 October in summer weather where the outcome of the 2014 championship battle was decided. Lasse Sorensen from Denmark left the drivers who could still win the title no chance and clinched it in race 3. However, second and third places are still up for grabs and four drivers are in the running. Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci, currently in the provisional runner-up spot, Anglo-Swiss Félix Hirsiger, Australian Joseph Mawson and Denis Bulatov from Russia all have a chance of accompanying Sorensen in the top 3. There are 75 points still to be awarded, and at the end of the final of the GT Tour on 24-26 October the trainees will know their final positions in the 2014 French F4 Championship.
On the Jerez circuit, Australian Joseph Mawson set the two quickest times in a fairly hectic qualifying session on Saturday morning putting him back in the limelight ahead of Lasse Sorensen and Mexican Patricio O’Ward, who had been very much at home on the Spanish track since the start of the meeting.
The first race was run in scorching hot conditions which were a real test for the ASA trainees. Mawson hit the front followed by O’Ward and Sorensen. The Australian knew that the start would prove crucial for the outcome of the race, but when the lights went out there were no position changes. Taking advantage of his pole position Mawson pulled away from his pursuers who were locked in a ding-dong battle. Behind him, Sorensen, who had passed O’Ward into second place, inched closer while Boccolacci and Valentin Moineault were scrapping for fourth followed by Russian Denis Bulatov in sixth, Swiss driver David Droux seventh, Finn Niclas Nylund eighth, another Swiss Paul Hokfelt Jr ninth and Swiss-Albanian Gjergj Haxhiu tenth. Mawson went on to win from Sorensen and O’Ward.
The second heat took place on Sunday morning with Gjergj Haxhiu on pole thanks to the principle of the reversed grid for the first 10 in race 1. The young Swiss-Albanian shared the front row with Paul Hokfelt Jr. Behind these two Nylund and Droux knew that they had a chance of winning and were determined to fight to the bitter end. As soon as the lights went out Haxhiu made a good start. Immediately David Droux latched on to his gearbox after making a blindingly quick getaway. Erwan Julé had a big shunt from which he emerged unhurt, but it dashed his chances of starting heat 3. Mawson made a spectacular comeback until a collision with Hokfelt Jr put an end to his race. The trainees were running wheel to wheel and giving nothing away. The safety car was deployed and this reduced the lead built up by Haxhiu to zero. Finally, the red flag was hung out to bring an incident-packed race to an end with victory going to Haxhiu followed by Droux and Nylund.
Mawson was on pole for the third race on Sunday followed by Sorensen and O’Ward. It was still very hot which didn’t dent the motivation of the 21 drivers on the grid. After a hectic start the ASA trainees went pedal to the metal to score the maximum number of points to improve their positions in the overall classification. Mawson opened up a gap over Sorensen who was under attack from O’Ward and Valentin Moineault. The Frenchman overtook the Mexican and headed on to a top-3 finish, while Sorensen began to eat into the Australian’s lead. He then found an opening and slipped past Mawson to take first place. Further back Boccolacci retired after a coming-together with another car. Bryan Elpitiya, who had started in 15th place on the grid, had fought his way up to seventh. Sorensen won the third and last heat of the weekend to rack up his seventh victory of the season followed Mawson and Moineault.
The points that went with first place were enough to give the young Danish driver the 2014 French F4 title with a total of 324 points. The other 24 drivers have three more races before the end of the season to decide the runner-up spot. The rest of the championship classification with 12 different nationalities is far from settled.
Boccolacci with 212 points will have to watch out for Hirsiger who is only 5 points behind (207), and is determined to snatch second place in the final ratings. Mawson with 188 points is slightly further back, but is still a potential runner-up contender, while Russian Denis Bulatov is an outsider with 140 points. Next up in the provisional top-10 classification are Moineault, O’Ward, Valentin Hasse Hokfelt Jr and Droux. The other 15 trainees will do their utmost to improve their final positions in the championship.
The weekend’s rendezvous:
Friday 24th October: free practice at 10h15 and qualifying at 15h45
Saturday 25th October: race 1 at 10h30 and race 2 at 17h35
Sunday 26th October: race 3 at 10h30
Follow the races live on www.gt-tour.fr
Overall Classification of the 2014 French F4 Championship after Jerez (6/7) :
1. L. Sorensen, 324 pts / 2. D. Boccolacci, 212 pts / 3. F. Hirsiger, 207 pts / 4. J. Mawson, 188 pts / 5. D. Bulatov, 140 pts / 6. V. Moineault, 104 pts / 7. P. O’Ward, 102 pts / 8. V. Hasse Clot, 83 pts / 9. P. Hokfelt Jr, 77 pts / 10. D. Droux, 69 pts / etc…
– 2 Pole Positions for Mawson (Races 1 and 3) and 1 for Haxhiu (Race 2)
– 1 Victory each for Mawson, Haxhiu and Sorensen
– 1 fastest lap each for Mawson, Atoev and Sorensen
– 18 laps in head for Mawson, 11 for Haxhiu and 6 for Sorensen
Info Auto Sport Academy / © Photo KSP