Under the blue skies of the Gers and with a temperature of over 20°, the 26 drivers of the FFSA Academy French F4 Championship benefited from optimal conditions for the official Qualifying session, which is so important to have a chance to shine in this first round of the season.
By the third lap, five drivers had broken the 1:29 barrier, with Canadian Kevin Foster leading the way ahead of Spaniard Pol Lopez, Frenchman Enzo Peugeot and German Tom Kalender. A lap later, Frenchman Romain Andriolo entered the duel for pole position, as did Japan’s Hiyu Yamakoshi and Belgian Yani Stevenheydens.
It was at this moment that Evan Giltaire managed to exploit the maximum efficiency of his Pirelli tyres to sign two perfect laps. The only one to go under 1:28, in 1:27″870, he relegated Foster by almost 3 tenths. His next lap proved to be the best of the second fastest times for each driver, securing him both pole positions for Sunday morning’s Race 1 and Monday morning’s Race 3.
“Working with the FFSA Academy engineer on data acquisition was really good,” said Evan, “My best time in free practice allowed me to start first and I was able to run the session as we planned. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all my partners who have made it possible for me to race in F4 this season.”
Behind Evan, no one was able to get within two tenths of Foster’s time. The Feed Racing Volant winner was satisfied to have earned his place on the front row. “My goal was clearly pole position. I have worked hard over the last few months to be ready for this event and this 2nd place is an excellent start in F4. The performance is there, but I know I can still improve.”
Enzo Richer chose to stay on track longer than his rivals, seeing his lap times improve with each lap. A good strategy, as he ended up in 3rd position just ahead of Romain Andriolo, by only 4 hundredths. “Qualifying was often a problem for me in 2022 and I really wanted to be in the leading group this time. So it’s done.”
Behind Andriolo, who finished an excellent 4th, Hiyu Yamakoshi confirmed his ambitions. The Japanese driver was 7 thousandths ahead of Enzo Peugeot. Very fast at the beginning of the session, during which he provisionally occupied 2nd position, Pol Lopez did not manage to improve afterwards and slipped to 7th position ahead of the Belgian Yani Stenheydens, the Frenchman Louis Schlesser and the Romanian Luca Savu. It should be noted that less than 7 tenths separate 8th from 24th!
Info FFSA Academy / Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve