Photo: FFSA Academy
Honda junior Taito Kato claimed two pole positions in the penultimate round of the French Formula 4 season at Dijon.
Friday’s track action began with free practice, and Kato was pipped to top spot by just 0.011 seconds. Yani Stevenheydens was the driver who beat him, setting a 1m17.364s early on.
Jason Leung was 0.359s behind in third, with everyone else more than half a second off the pace. Stevenheydens’ closest title rival Jules Caranta was eighth fastest, 0.785s from the top.
Laptimes improved when drivers headed back out in the afternoon for qualifying, and the battle for pole was settled midway through the session. Kaito set a 1m16.883s on his seventh lap of 13, with Stevenheydens coming 0.088s short of matching him on his eighth lap of 15.
Jules Roussel only set nine laps, fewer than anyone else, but was still able to go third fastest and was only 0.159s off pole. Augustin Bernier was a further 0.021s behind, and Frank Porte Ruiz qualified fifth.
Caranta may have only been 0.287s slower than Kaito, but that was only good enough for sixth in a closely fought session where 0.468s covered the top 10 and 20 drivers got within a second of Kaito’s benchmark.
Kaito secured another pole by being top of the order when it came to drivers’ second-best laptimes. His 1m16.968s earned him top spot by 0.194s over Stevenheydens, with Bernier 0.266s off pole in third. Montego Maassen, Caranta, Roussel, Porte Ruiz and Jason Leung filled the top eight positions.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Taito Kato 1m16.883s
2 Yani Stevenheydens +0.088s
3 Jules Roussel +0.159s
4 Augustin Bernier +0.180s
5 Frank Porte Ruiz +0.227s
6 Jules Caranta +0.287s
7 Montego Maassen +0.380s
8 Jason Leung +0.444s
9 Chester Kieffer +0.451s
10 Dylan Estre +0.468s
Race 3 grid
1 Kato 1m16.968s
2 Stevenheydens +0.194s
3 Bernier +0.266s
4 Maassen +0.356s
5 Caranta +0.357s
6 Roussel +0.393s
7 Porte Ruiz +0.457s
8 Leung +0.471s
9 Estre +0.481s
10 Enzo Caldaras +0.584s