F4 Academy: Giusti fastest on the Gard toboggan

As was the case in Monza in 2021, Alessandro Giusti will again have the pleasure of starting from pole position. At the fifth of the seven races of the French F4 Championship, the young Frenchman – F4 Junior Champion last year – was the fastest in the Qualifying session on the Lédenon circuit. Confirming his desire to put pressure on Australian Hugh Barter, leader in the provisional standings, he perfectly exploited the optimum wear of his tyres to set a time of 1’21″478 at an average speed of almost 140 km/h on his fourth flying lap.

On the following lap, Barter closed to within 26 thousandths of Giusti, but was unable to reverse the trend. A few minutes later, Giusti set another excellent lap and also secured pole position for Sunday’s Race 3, after Race 1 on Saturday morning. “It was hot in the car, it was physical, but I felt very good on this track where you don’t have much time to breathe,” said Alessandro. “I was able to do three fast laps when the tyres were working well. I dropped a lap to let them cool down, then I was able to set another excellent time to definitively ensure the two poles. I then returned to the pits, as did Barter. I continued to watch the progress of the other drivers. When I saw that no one was really getting close to my times and Barter was staying in the pit, I didn’t push.”

As a result, Giusti only drove nine laps, while others put in nearly double the miles. “It’s always important to save for the rest of the meeting,” he said. As for Edgar Pierre, he had no regrets about persevering on the track, as he was in 3rd place behind Barter just before the chequered flag! This was his best result in this stage since the beginning of the season. This session was therefore interesting until the end, shown by the return of the Japanese driver Souta Arao in 5th position after going through the pits to lower the temperature of his tyres. However, he was still 5 hundredths off the pace of an excellent Enzo Peugeot, who set a time of 1’21″924 on his eighth flying lap.

Swiss driver Dario Cabanelas, who was 6th (and 4th in the best second-lap standings), came through the 30-minute run rather well. Behind him, the gaps proved to be tight and the top- 10 places were still very much in demand. Elliott Vayron took 7th position in front of the Japanese driver Yuto Nomura, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and the young German Max Reis. The latter will have the satisfaction of starting on pole in Race 2, which starts in the reverse order of Qualifying for the top 10 drivers.

Several academicians regretted the wet track during the morning Free Practice session, which required the use of rain tyres and did not allow them to prepare optimally for Qualifying on slick tyres, in mild weather.

Info  FFSA Academy / Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve