F4 France Barcelona: Victor Martins takes control of the Championship!

The drivers in the French F4 Championship met at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit for the penultimate round of the season during the Velocidad Festival. This sixth event has brought its share of surprise. Indeed, Victor Martins has regained the lead of the Championship after the three races, only separated by five points from Arthur Rougier.

The Barcelona-Catalunya circuit this weekend hosted the sixth round of the French F4 Championship season and the third race abroad. The weather was rather mild for the young drivers who escaped the few drops of rain that fell this weekend. Free Practice and Qualifying were not mistaken about the strongest drivers on the Catalan track. Charles Milesi continued the momentum of the last meeting at Magny-Cours and took pole in front of Victor Martins and Florian Venturi.

The first race saw Charles Milesi on top of the podium, and although he was somewhat worried by Victor Martins at the start he very quickly resumed the lead. Florian Venturi drove a solid race and quickly secured his 3rd position. The young driver seemed to enjoy this circuit and demonstrated this throughout the weekend.

In the second race, Jean-Baptiste Mela used all the chances he had to take his first victory this season and the young Corsican driver closed to his comrades in the overall standings. Arthur Rougier took 2nd place and grabbed valuable points for the Championship. Ugo de Wilde progressed in a meteoric manner and celebrated his first podium in F4.

The third and final race of the weekend was similar to the first. Charles Milesi however took the lead at the start and ran his race race serenely. Florian Venturi was very decisive on Sunday but Victor Martins quickly regained the position and finished 2nd. Ugo de Wilde and Hugo Chevalier drove solid races and left with significant points before the last race. Pierre-Louis Chovet and Adam Eteki are on the pace of their rivals and continue to prepare for 2018.

The suspense is at its height until the end of the season for the French F4 Championship. While Arthur Rougier came to Barcelona as leader, Victor Martins managed to take the lead but will arrive at Le Castellet with only five points in hand. Florian Venturi made his debut in the top three after a very successful Catalan weekend. Charles Milesi and Pierre-Alexandre Jean both lose a place but remain in the top five at 13 and 15 points from 3rd place.

Jean-Baptiste Mela, Hugo Chevalier and Ugo de Wilde are moving up slowly but surely in the overall standings. With such small gaps, all of them can still hope to gain some places during the last race at the Le Castellet circuit, from 13th to 15th October 2017.

Overall classification of the FFSA Academy after the meeting in Barcelona

1. Victor MARTINS : 252 points
2. Arthur ROUGIER : 247 points
3. Florian VENTURI : 131 points
4. Charles MILESI : 118 points
5. Pierre-Alexandre JEAN : 116 points
6. Christian MUÑOZ : 115 points
7. Stuart WHITE : 112 points
8. Hugo CHEVALIER : 111 points
9. Jean-Baptiste MELA : 93 points
10. Marvin KLEIN : 85 points
11. Javier GONZALEZ : 72 points
12. Casper ROES ANDERSEN : 58 points
13. Ugo DE WILDE : 34 point
14. Thomas DROUET : 31 points
15. Aldo FESTANTE : 11 points
16. Amaury CORDEEL : 4 points

Numbers

2 pole positions for Charles Milesi (Races 1 and 3)

2 victories for Charles Milesi (Races 1 and 3), 1 for Jean-Baptiste Mela (Race 2)

3 fastest laps in the race for Charles Milesi (Races 1, 2 and 3)

3 laps led by Victor Martins and 9 laps by Charles Milesi (Race 1), 12 laps by Jean-Baptiste Mela (Race 2), 12 laps by Charles Milesi (Race 3)

Info FFSA Academy / © Photo KSP – Guillaume Veuve