Following a golden generation with Pourchaire, Martins and Hadjar, France is ready to prepare its next rising stars. After being on Friday at Magny-Cours for the first training course of the FEED Racing F4 competition, Feeder Series went to Salbris for the final of the French FFSA Junior Karting Championship. These two competitions share the same core principle: reveal young drivers’ talent under equal conditions.

By Perceval Wolff

Théo Pourchaire, Victor Martins, Isack Hadjar, Pierre-Louis Chovet, Sami Meguetounif, Esteban Masson, Macéo Capietto, Alessandro Giusti, Doriane Pin – these are some of the talents the French Federation of Sport Automobile (FFSA) has uncovered in the past few years, thanks to their FFSA Junior Karting Championship and to their French F4 Championship.

Unlike other single-seater championships or international karting events, no teams are taking part to these series. Instead, all drivers see their cars or karts prepared by the French Federation in equal conditions. To make sure that the difference of results are made by the drivers and only the drivers, all engines are randomly allocated at the start of each event in karting. In F4, any driver who wins more than three times must swap his engine with another driver.

A personal follow-up

Moreover, the FFSA wants to help the young drivers from their Junior Karting Championship on their way to single-seaters as much as possible, as FFSA F4 and Karting Sporting Director Chloé Blossier told Feeder Series.

“We adapt ourselves to each driver, to each profile. Each driver is different and has different ambitions. Usually, the drivers that fight for the title are around 14-15 years old, such as Lisa Billard who will turn 15 next year, and Pacôme Weisenburger who is celebrating his 15th birthday today. We know that for them, we will be able to prepare them for F4.”

We develop a very strong relationship with our drivers

Chloé Blossier

“But we have younger drivers, such as Walter Schulz (11 years old), we need to make sure to keep his motivation for the upcoming years in karting, before going to F4 when he will be 15. We want to support every of our drivers after the French FFSA Junior Karting Championship.

“We develop a very strong relationship with our drivers, we continue talking to our former pupils, such as Victor Martins or Isack Hadjar that come time to time at the FFSA Academy or on some French F4 rounds.”

Arthur Dorison: the latest example

Last year, Arthur Dorison was the newest French FFSA Junior champion, while also becoming the first Frenchman crowned at the FIA Academy Trophy, an international karting competition with equal machineries, where he was engaged by the FFSA. This year, the protégé of Pierre Gasly is getting prepared for F4 without doing any karting races this year.

“We made the choice of getting him prepared to Formula 4 for several reasons. Karting is a wonderful school for young drivers, but in F4, they have to re-learn so many things, because go-karts and F4 are so different. It was a choice he made, in agreement with his management and us at the FFSA.

“F4 requires a certain budget so we also need to think about the money spent. If he had done karting alongside his F4 tests, he would have spent a lot of money for something that would not have been so important for his future that lies in single-seaters and not in karting.

“Moreover, there are some drivers that can switch cars very quickly, such as Evan Giltaire who goes from karting to F4 to FunCup every weekend and who is quick whatever the car. We believe Dorison needs more time to master the car, and that’s why he is doing these tests in F4.”

Lisa Billard and Pacôme Weisenburger: the next French stars?

This year and for the first time in the history of the French FFSA Junior Karting Championship, a young girl was fighting for the title. Member of Alpine’s Rac(H)er programme and supported by Esteban Ocon, 13-year-old Lisa Billard talked to Feeder Series about the importance of FFSA in her career.

“They follow me and they chose me to represent my country at the CIK-FIA Academy Trophy this year. These international races help me to gain a lot of experience. I’m doing some training courses at the FFSA Academy, I do sport, mental exercises… and they prepare me for F4 next year. I already did some F4 simulator for three days, it went pretty well.”

Lisa Billard also revealed more information about her future: “Next year, I will be doing many F4 tests with the FFSA during the race weekends, but as I will not yet be 15, I won’t be able to do the races. I should do the full season in 2025.”

As a part of the Rac(H)er program, Lisa Billard hopes she will continue with the French squad for the upcoming season.

“During the whole season, some coaches from Alpine followed us and monitored our progression, while we also did some training courses at Enstone. We are six drivers this year, and Alpine will select two or three of us for the next year, so I hope I will continue my journey with them.”

Despite leading the championship before the final round, Lisa Billard eventually finished 3rd in the standings, only seven points shy from the champion Pacôme Weisenburger, a member of Victor Martins’ VictoryLane agency.

“We place great hopes in him,” said Chloé Blossier. “He has already had great results at an international level, and he showed us he could adapt quickly. He will participate to French F4 next year.”

FEED Racing: a complementary solution

The FFSA’s extensive support is one of the reasons why France has uncovered so many drivers in recent years. However, as for other championships in other countries, drivers need some budget to progress in the feeder series ladder, even though the FFSA can partly help them – and some drivers can be left on the sidelines if they don’t have enough budget to continue.

This was the case of 2021 French FFSA Junior Champion Augustin Bernier. Little brother of FRECA driver Victor, Augustin hasn’t driven much since. “This title was still very important for me, it’s a very prestigious title,” Augustin told Feeder Series. “Some guys like Chovet, Masson, [Enzo] Peugeot had won it before me… It was five weekends that were close from perfection, so I have to thank FFSA for this.”

“I knew the next step for me would be car racing, but I had to stop competition for one and a half year, I couldn’t even do many tests because of budget… I could still stay in the paddock, especially in FRECA around my brother, but it’s not the same as racing myself for sure. I did some simulator at my place mainly, and not more than fifteen hours of testing in one and a half years.”

That’s why Augustin Bernier chose to participate in FEED Racing this year. Several former drivers offer their precious advice to young drivers, who can apply them during at least five days of testing. The racing school created by Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Lemarié also allows the winner of their competition a fully-funded French F4 season. The last winner is Kevin Foster, who currently sits in 4th in the French F4 standings.

“FEED Racing was the best opportunity in terms of price/quality ratio. It brings a lot of experience, a lot of keys to understand how a single-seater car works compared to a kart. I’m very happy to have set the fastest times of my group at FEED Racing, but there is still a long way to go before the final.”

“I’m not forced to win FEED Racing to go to French F4 next year, I don’t put myself under so much pressure. FEED Racing is mainly there to prepare me to French F4, to put me in the best conditions. Of course, if I can win it, that would be easier for me and my family!”

Augustin Bernier qualified for the quarter finals of FEED Racing that will take place at the end of August. He will be joined by 31 other drivers, including other kart champions and foreign international drivers.

Header photo credit: Perceval Wolff