The French Formula 4 title battle continued at Magny-Cours, with Reshad de Gerus taking two victories.
After putting his car on pole, de Gerus thought he would have his hands full of title rival Hadrien David in race one, but he was proven wrong and swept to an easy third win of the season.
David had been passed at the start by Jules Mettetal, who couldn’t keep his more illustrious rival at bay for the whole duration but did cross the line in third.
What would have been his first podium was taken away though by a penalty, and American Nicky Hays ended up in third.
Junior class winner Victor Bernier was fourth, ahead of Gillian Henrion and Sten Van der Henst. They were hounded by Japanese F4 star Kakunoshin Ohta, making his first appearance in Europe.
Evan Spenle finished 10th, putting him on pole for race two. He converted it into a maiden win over Ohta by 3.270 seconds, despite Ohta being faster on one-lap pace.
Hugo Valente did hold third place behind them at first, but there was an impatient queue of cars wanting to get past him. Gillian Henrion and Isack Hadjar challenged at first, until a failed move by de Gerus lost Henrion places and span Hadjar out of the race.
Bernier, David and Hays were far more successful in their attempts to get past Valente, and it was David who finished third after a late pass on Bernier.
De Gerus was back on pole for the final race, and never looked troubled. After pulling away from David at the start, a safety car restart brought them back together but de Gerus was having none of it and pulled away once again on the restart.
Applying pressure on David were the improving Van der Henst and Hays in third and fourth, while Hadjar took the Junior win in fifth place.
Results round-up
Race 1
1 Reshad de Gerus 13 laps
2 Hadrien David +2.776s
3 Nicky Hays +6.450s
4 Victor Bernier +7.296s
5 Gillian Henrion +11.036s
6 Sten Van der Henst +11.935s
7 Kakunoshin Ohta +12.644s
8 Isack Hadjar +12.926s
9 Enzo Valente +17.017s
10 Evan Spenle +18.656s
Pole: de Gerus, 1m46.100s
Fastest lap: de Gerus, 1m46.289s
Race 2
1 Spenle 13 laps
2 Ohta +3.270s
3 David +11.784s
4 Bernier +12.928s
5 Hays +15.257s
6 Valente +16.278s
7 Henrion +16.683s
8 Van der Henst +17.652s
9 Pierre-Francois Duriani +18.533s
10 White +19.964s
FL: Ohta, 1m46.888s
Race 3
1 de Gerus 11 laps
2 David +2.006s
3 Van der Henst +2.504s
4 Hays +2.762s
5 Hadjar +5.901s
6 Jules Mettetal +6.201s
7 Ugo Gazil +6.534s
8 Spenle +6.890s
9 Ohta +7.201s
10 Mathis Poulet +7.678s
P: de Gerus, 1m46.279s
FL: Hays, 1m46.863s
Championship standings
1 de Gerus 248? ?2 David 247? ?3 Hays 161? ?4 Henrion 149? ?5 Valente 120? ?6 White 116? ?7 Van der Henst 112? ?8 Spenle 107? ?9 Gazil 83? ?10 Mettetal 63
Junior 1 Bernier 303? ?2 Hadjar 291? ?3 Paul-Adrien Pallot 234