Ayumu Iwasa won the opening French Formula 4 race at Spa-Francorchamps to stretch his points lead, while fellow Honda junior Ren Sato finished fourth.
Sato passed first-time poleman Sami Meguetounif for the lead at the start of the race, with Iwasa folling him through into second later around the lap.
Iwasa passed Sato for the lead on lap two, with Meguetounif reclaiming second place by 0.001 seconds from Sato too as they crossed the line to end the lap. From then on those two were mostly locked in battle, while Iwasa pulled away by 2.8s.
Sato then fell into the clutches of Isack Hadjar – who had missed qualifying – on the penultimate lap, while Iwasa was reeled back in by Meguetounif. There was no change of lead though, with Iwasa finishing the 10-lap race with a 1.678s advantage and his seventh win of the season.
Hadjar passed Sato to end a remarkable charge in third place, with Sato then a lonely fourth.
Some way back was Rafael Villagomez in fifth, who led Junior classification winner Valentin Catalano, while Romain Leroux dropped back and only just held off Loris Cabirou for seventh.
World Karting champion Marijn Kremers faded early on and finished ninth, with Ivan Peklin taking the final point in 10th. Lev Lomko was the only retiree and only lasted one sector of the race, while Owen Tangavelou was recorded as a non-starter.
Race results (10 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayumu Iwasa | 24m33.319s |
| 2 | Sami Meguetounif | +1.678s |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | +2.172s |
| 4 | Ren Sato | +3.813s |
| 5 | Rafael Villagomez | +7.809s |
| 6 | Valentin Catalano | +8.436s |
| 7 | Romain Leroux | +10.063s |
| 8 | Loris Cabirou | +10.272s |
| 9 | Marijn Kremers | +14.487s |
| 10 | Ivan Peklin | +15.292s |
| 11 | Noah Andy | +31.777s |
| 12 | Daniel Ligier | +32.480s |
| Ret | Lev Lomko | |
| DNS | Owen Tangavelou | |
| Fastest lap: Hadjar, 2m26.204s
Championship standings |
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