F4 – Pau: A clear round at Pau for Arthur Rougier!

The Pau Grand Prix again hosted this year’s French F4 Championship. For this third meeting of the season and despite some changeable weather at the beginning of the weekend, the young drivers have competed joyfully on the street circuit of Pau. On this unusual circuit, Arthur Rougier confirmed his rise to power by winning two of the three races. The next round will be in the Belgian Ardennes, from 9th to 11th June 2017.

While Qualifying had taken place on a dry track, rain hit the drivers of the French F4 Championship at the end of the first race. The poleman Arthur Rougier negotiated his start perfectly and widened the gap behind him. Further back, Victor Martins and Marvin Klein took the podium without taking risks. As for Casper Røes and Christian Mun?oz, they did well with good recoveries. However, caution was necessary for the drivers until the race was interrupted by a red flag due to weather conditions.

In Race 2, the sun reappeared. All the drivers were confident to put on slicks. Started with a reverse grid, Thomas Drouet scored his first victory of the season. Jean-Baptiste Mela, very comfortable since the beginning of the weekend, managed to take 2nd place on the podium followed by Javier Gonzalez who remained in contact for the entire race without being able to seize 2nd position.

For the last race, Arthur Rougier, who had set the fastest time in Qualifying, retained the advantage of his position at the start and once again rapidly increased his lead over the rest of the pack. In the battle for 2nd place, Marvin Klein and Jean-Baptiste Mela unfortunately did not have a chance and finally Hugo Chevalier remained in contact with his competitors and finished 2nd in front of Stuart White.

Thanks to his two victories, Arthur Rougier took the lead in the overall standings with 121 points just ahead of Victor Martins. Pierre-Alexandre Jean with his 4th place in the last race, remains in the top three with 77 points. Stuart White, who was fairly consistent throughout the weekend on the Bearn route, made the right move as he took 5th place in the championship. This round at Pau also highlighted good progress from Casper Røes and Ugo de Wilde. However, the general ranking is far from fixed in the top 10 with Arthur Rougier and Victor Martins very close.

General classification of the FFSA Academy after the Pau meeting

1. Arthur ROUGIER: 121 points
2. Victor MARTINS: 111 points
3. Pierre-Alexandre JEAN: 77 points
4. Charles MILESI: 65 points
5. Stuart WHITE: 59 points
6. Marvin KLEIN: 55 points
7. Christian MUN?OZ: 55 points
8. Florian VENTURI: 54 points
9. Jean-Baptiste MELA: 48 points
10. Casper ROES ANDERSEN: 46 points

11. Javier GONZALEZ : 35 points
12. Hugo CHEVALIER : 35 points
13. Thomas DROUET : 21 points
14. Aldo FESTANTE : 11 points
15. Amaury CORDEEL : 2 points
16. Ugo DE WILDE : 0 point 

Info FFSA / © Photo KSP