The first two F4 races held as part of the Grand Prix de Pau were completely different. In the dry, the poleman Caio Collet had a clear run, resisting Arthur Leclerc in Race 1. In the afternoon, the drivers put on the wet tyres for Race 2 with the reverse grid for the top 10. Thanks to attacking Reshad De Gerus, long leading, Adam Eteki ended up finding the gap on the last lap! The very cosmopolitan FFSA Academy French F4 Championship continues to fulfill all its promises.
The National Technical Director, Christophe Lollier drew a particularly positive assessment of the first part of the meeting at Pau. “The circuit in the city centre of Pau always has its share of difficulties. The arrival of rain between the races made the conditions even more complicated to manage for the 18 drivers in the Championship. Despite the precarious grip and the spray of water that limited visibility, there were very few incidents. This shows once again the standard of the 2018 vintage. I also note that the leading drivers are pulling up those who are fighting in the middle of the pack and who keep on increasing their pace. Congratulations to Caio Collet on his first victory and to Adam Eteki for his superb pass on the last lap of Race 2.”
Collet wins despite Leclerc
In Race 1, Caio Collet did not hesitate! “I had already done some of the work on Friday in pole position,” the Brazilian exclaimed. “I knew that by making the best start and remaining focused to avoid the slightest mistake between the Pau railings, the win would come after the effort.” From the outside, the race was far from easy, due to the magnificent performance of Arthur Leclerc. The Monegasque continues to improve, as evidenced by his fastest lap in the race. “I tried to put pressure on Caio, but when I followed him too closely to slipstream, I lost support on the front end and could not make a clean attack.”
With the steady pace of the top two, the Belgian Ugo De Wilde was pleased to again climb on the podium. “With Caio and Arthur, we managed to make a gap to the rest of the pack. When I saw that it would be difficult to get the better of them, I preferred to secure 3rd place and score major points in the championship.”
Behind them, the German Esteban Muth confirmed his excellent qualifying session by maintaining his 4th place despite a very pressing Pierre-Louis Chovet in his wake. Even though Stuart White got the better of him at the start, Théo Pourchaire finished as top Junior again.
Adam Eteki responds in Race 2
Disappointed with not having a better time in the Timed Practice, Adam Eteki did not miss out in Race 2 and used the reverse grid for the top 10 to take a second victory in F4. In the rain shower on the slippery track, his duel with Reshad De Gerus was incredibly intense. “I was looking for a way to overtake Reshad for a long time, inside and out, but he did not make a mistake. For my part, I was very confident in the car, I attacked at every corner and I had to wait until the last lap to surprise him,” Adam rejoiced, taking the opportunity to take back valuable points from his rivals in the overall classification.
Honourably defeated, De Gerus had the satisfaction of finishing as Top Junior and increasing his confidence in a championship that is just beginning. The suspense also lasted until the end for 3rd place between the Belgian Ulysse Depauw and the Frenchman Theo Pourchaire. The duel finally turned to the advantage of the Belgian. Stuart White delivered a good attacking run to finish 5th ahead of Ugo De Wilde, who took advantage of the lively exchange between Esteban Muth and Pierre-Louis Chovet to gain two places.
Race 3 will take place on Sunday, 13 May at 10:12.