Photo: KSP Reportages
Evan Giltaire won the final race of the French Formula 4 season at Paul Ricard to take the points lead and therefore the title.
Giltaire came into the title decider four points behind Enzo Peugeot, and started from pole position while Peugeot was fourth on the grid. A win for Giltaire would make him champion regardless of where Peugeot finished.
Peugeot lost a place on the opening lap as Hiyu Yamakoshi jumped from fifth to third, but was back up to fourth on lap two as Romain Andriolo ran over the kerbs at the Montreal chicane and fell behind Peugeot. Just ahead, Yamakoshi went side-by-side with Kevin Foster through Signes and managed to get past him for second place.
Giltaire was 1.5 seconds clear at the front by lap three, and 1.909s ahead the lap after while Andriolo lost another spot to Paul Alberto.
Peugeot could not allow Giltaire to distance himself, and he tried going around the outside of Foster at Signes but was unsuccessful. He tried another pass at turn one next time by but Foster held the inside line and stayed ahead.
At the turn five right-hander he dived to the inside of Foster and bounced over the kerbs at the corner apex. That sent him into the side of Foster, who then bounced over the outside kerbs. That damaged his car and left him spinning across the run-off and into retirement.
Giltaire extended his lead over Yamakoshi to 2.792s on that lap, and by lap seven he was being pressured by Peugeot. He passed him at the Montreal chicane, but now had a 3.885s gap to make up on Giltaire with only a few laps to go.
He could not put a dent in Giltaire’s lead, and so the leader met the chequered flag as champion with his sixth win of 2023.
Alberto and Andriolo finished fourth and fifth, and Garrett Berry was sixth.
There were moments of drama further down the order, with Louis Schlesser getting spun around on lap five, Enzo Richer retiring in the pits at the end of lap seven, Pol Lopez doing the same two laps later and Yani Stevenheydens spinning on the penultimate lap.
Race result (11 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan Giltaire | 23m24.473s |
| 2 | Enzo Peugeot | +3.898s |
| 3 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | +5.023s |
| 4 | Paul Alberto | +9.412s |
| 5 | Romain Andriolo | +10.470s |
| 6 | Garrett Berry | +15.524s |
| 7 | Andrei Duna | +16.318s |
| 8 | Edgar Pierre | +16.494s |
| 9 | Gabriel Doyle-Parfait | +20.392s |
| 10 | Karel Schulz | +22.045s |
| 11 | Adrien Closmenil | +24.330s |
| 12 | Frank Porte-Ruiz | +25.272s |
| 13 | Leonardo Megna | +28.839s |
| 14 | Jason Leung | +31.328s |
| 15 | Tom Kalender | +31.883s |
| 16 | Finn Wiebelhaus | +31.982s |
| 17 | Max Reis | +32.129s |
| 18 | Arthur Dorison | +33.753s |
| 19 | Edouard Borgna | +37.472s |
| 20 | Louis Schlesser | +37.855s |
| 21 | Yani Stevenheydens | +38.314s |
| 22 | Yaroslav Veselaho | +39.040s |
| 23 | Joao Paulo Diaz Balasteiro | +46.526s |
| 24 | Luca Savu | +1m09.178s |
| 25 | Pol Lopez | +2 laps |
| Ret | Enzo Richer | |
| Ret | Kevin Foster | |
| Fastest lap: Giltaire, 2m07.034s
Championship standings |
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