In a great first in the history of the French F4 Championship: the Muth brothers achieved a magnificent double at Jerez during Race 2, with the victory of O’Neill ahead of Esteban, his elder brother. This is the eighth different winner this season; more proof of the extremely high standard of the FFSA Academy series. Behind the two Germans, Pierre-Louis Chovet returned to the podium.
Of the three races organised at each meeting of the F4 series recognised by the FIA, Race 2 has the distinction of a starting grid using the reverse order of the top 10 from Race 1. Ranked 10th on Saturday, O’Neill Muth started from pole on the Spanish circuit of Jerez. The young German made a perfect start to the race, while there were spectacular passes behind him.
Esteban Muth puts the pressure on
The start was marked by a superb start by the Brazilian Caio Collet, who went from 10th to 6th position. In his wake was Arthur Leclerc, up two places. There was more overtaking among the other drivers. Esteban Muth made the difference against Ugo De Wilde, while Théo Pourchaire finished the first lap ahead of Alessandro Ghiretti. The Reunion driver Reshad De Gerus made the wrong move during this very lively start, with a fall from 6th to 10th place.
Esteban Muth continued to put the pressure on by triumphantly displacing Pierre-Louis Chovet to pursue his brother. The German set the fastest lap of 1’51 “093 and quickly reduced the gap to less than a second.
O’Neill Muth resists!
In the pack, the pressure did not drop between the different candidates to the podium, with reduced gaps between the Mygale single-seaters of the FFSA Academy. Further back, the driver from the Sultanate of Oman Shihab Al Habsi got the better of Sacha Lehmann.
On lap 8, O’Neill Muth saw his lead reduced to less than five tenths, and then two tenths three laps later against a determined Esteban. The suspense remained intact until the end, but the positions remained the same to the end.
“At the end of the race, I was back in O’Neill’s wake. However, trying to overtake required significant risk and I preferred to ensure this family double,” said Esteban Muth. After Pourchaire at Spa Francorchamps and O’Neill Muth in Jerez, this is the second time that a Junior has won a race in the French Championship.
Behind, the Frenchman Pierre-Louis Chovet resisted the push of the chasing pack to climb on the third step of the podium coveted by the two Belgians Ugo De Wilde and Ulysse De Pauw. 6th ahead of Arthur Leclerc, Caio Collet took the opportunity to score some extra points in the Championship. The title is not far off for the Brazilian.