Valentin Moineault was determined to have the French national anthem played at the end of the third race on the Paul Ricard circuit on the final podium of the 2014 season. Dane Lasse Sorensen, who did everything he could to snatch victory from the Frenchman, was on the second step, while Dorian Boccolacci’s third place was good enough to give him the runner-up spot in the 2014 French F4 Championship.
The quickest drivers in qualifying were on the front rows for the final race of the year. Moineault, who came out on top on Friday, was on pole with the 2014 French F4 Champion, Sorensen, alongside him. There was considerable tension between the two drivers on row 2, Anglo-Swiss Félix Hirsiger and Boccolacci as they were fighting for the runner-up spot. Winner of race 2 Mexican Patricio O’Ward was on the third row in front of two Frenchmen Amaury Richard and Valentin Hasse Clot followed by Paul Hokfelt Jr from Switzerland.
Moineault held on to the lead when the lights went out followed by Sorensen. O’Ward had a stunning first lap and overtook Boccolacci and Hirsiger to snatch third. There was plenty of action in the early laps and the main victim was Hirsiger who had to retire after a collision with Hasse Clot. It was a disastrous blow to the young Anglo-Swiss who lost all hope of filling the runner-up position. He would have to wait till the end of the race to find out where he stood in the final ratings. Hasse Clot also retired.
In the middle of the pack Russian Vladimir Atoev and Mexican Axel Matus tagged each other and they dropped to the back of the field. Up front Moineault, Sorensen and O’Ward had opened up a gap over Boccolacci in fourth place.
Behind these four Hokfelt Jr was fifth after pushing Amaury Richard back to sixth. Then came Swede Reuben Kressner in seventh, Russian Denis Bulatov eight, Swiss-Albanian Gjergj Haxhiu ninth and Max Defourny from Belgium in tenth. Sorensen piled the pressure on Moineault and looked determined to take the lead. But the Frenchman driver was not in the least intimidated and fended him off without faltering.
At half distance Moineault was still in the lead in front of Sorensen and Boccolacci who had overtaken O’Ward to go third. Erwan Julé went pedal to the metal and set a stunning time in the first sector. The other places in the top 10 were hotly disputed between Richard, Kressner, Hokfelt Jr and Bulatov who kept swapping positions. Boccolacci was now the fastest man on the track and he started to reel in the two front-runners. Young Englishman Harrison Newey, who started in 18th place, was obviously getting the hang of his car and he was already up into twelfth. Finally, he saw the flag in ninth place!
With five laps to go the leading trio was running wheel to wheel promising a ding-dong battle for victory. Hokfelt Jr was also pushing harder and snatched fourth place from O’Ward.
Despite coming under extreme pressure from Sorensen Moineault never put a foot wrong and scored a masterful victory in the final race of a very exciting 2014 season.
Info Auto Sport Academy / © Photo KSP