Photo: KSP Reportages
Jules Roussel and Arthur Dorison won French Formula 4’s two Saturday races at Spa-Francorchamps.
Poleman Roussel immediately came under attack from Rintaro Sato in race one, going side-by-side before and after Eau Rouge. Alexandre Munoz made it three-wide at Les Combes and swept into the lead around the outside, with Roussel demoted to third.
One spot was reclaimed before the end of the lap, but Sato was back ahead by Les Combes on lap two and Montego Maassen was then challenging Roussel. Not far behind, Matteo Giaccardi crashed, joining spinner Hugo Martiniello, who collided with Zhelin Shen, in retirement.
The battle for second continued on lap three, and Rayan Caretti homed in. At the final chicane, Annabelle Brian spun out.
Roussel took the lead on the outside at Les Combes on lap four, and Guillaume Bouzar overtook Romeo Leurs for eighth at the final chicane.
On lap five, Maassen got alongside Munoz at Les Combes but ran out of road. A crash at the same corner led to the safety car being called, and another crash on lap six meant when racing then resumed on lap seven it was quickly neutralised again. Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Andy Consani was one of those who crashed out.
The next restart was on lap nine, and Hugo Herrouin passed Sato for fifth, with Caretti behind them. Leurs became the next driver to crash out, but this time no safety car interruption was needed and slipstreaming battles could commence into the final lap.
Maassen went straight past Munoz dowm the Kemmel Straight, and Guillaume Gouzar passed Caretti then defended the position into Les Combes. Arthur Dorison tried going doing the inside of Caretti too, and the outcome was the latter spinning over the front of the former’s car.
Roussel held on at the front to win by 0.786s, and Herrouin finished fourth ahead of Louis Iglesias, Bouzar, Dorison and Sato.
Bouzar started race two from reversed-grid pole and held the lead at the start, holding off Caretti into La Source and Les Combes.
Dorison, starting third, ended lap one in front of Caretti and began challenging Bouzar for the lead. Caretti meanwhile was passed by Iglesias in the middle of Les Combes and put a wheel in the gravel, costing him a place to Sato. He would be back past Sato by the end of the lap, and Iglesias a couple of laps later.
While Caretti set off after the battling Bouzar and Dorison, Iglesias and Sato were caught by Munoz and Roussel, who had started on the fifth row. Herrouin was also in the mix until he collided with Sato at La Source, triggering a safety car.
While Bouzar made a good gap at the restart with 10 minutes remaining, Dorison was passed by Caretti, who then closed in on the leader. With three minutes to go, Caretti made a pass for the lead through Eau Rouge and Raidillon, where Bouzar would take to the run-off area.
Dorison took advantage to overtake both down the Kemmel Straight and claim the lead. Caretti would respond, briefly nosing ahead at the same point a lap later, but Dorison held on to score his third win from as many reversed-grid races this season.
Munoz passed Iglesias for fourth at the Bus Stop after the restart and caught the lead battle, but couldn’t find a way onto the podium.
Roussel tried to immediately follow his rival past Iglesias into La Source but the pair made nose-to-wheel contact. Roussel would fight his way past at the top of the circuit a couple of laps later to secure fifth.
Results round-up
Race 1 results (10 laps)
1 Jules Roussel 30m32.242s
2 Montego Maassen +0.786s
3 Alexandre Munoz +1.372s
4 Hugo Herrouin +2.378s
5 Louis Iglesias +3.379s
6 Guillaume Bouzar +4.223s
7 Arthur Dorison +5.464s
8 Rintaro Sato +6.223s
9 Thomas Senecloze +7.420s
10 Pablo Riccobono Bello +7.942s
Fastest lap: Roussell, 2m23.509s
Race 2 (12 laps)
1 Dorison 31m41.601s
2 Rayan Caretti +0.477s
3 Bouzar +0.780s
4 Munoz +1.569s
5 Roussel +3.060s
6 Maassen +5.452s
7 Iglesias +5.943s
8 Matteo Giaccardi +6.497s
9 Andy Consani +6.963s
10 Romeo Leurs +9.409s
Fastest lap: Dorison, 2m23.796s
Championship standings
1 Munoz 147 2 Roussel 109 3 Dorison 64 4 Iglesias 51 5 Maassen 52 6 Rafael Perard 48 7 Bouzar 40 8 Caretti 34 9 Malo Bolliet 33 10 Giaccardi 29