For the past six years, French F4’s grids have included one winner of a full scholarship from Feed Racing to cover competition costs. This week, a fresh crop of six finalists are battling to secure the coveted prize to jump-start their single-seater careers. Get to know the drivers and their backgrounds.

By Katrina Abbott

Feed Racing was established by 1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve and former F1 tester and CART driver Patrick Lemarié in 2019 as a way to bridge the gap between karting and single-seater racing at a low cost. Following a training camp and a rigorous selection process, six finalists are chosen to fight for a fully funded seat in the next year’s French F4 Championship.

The winner of the first shootout was Dutchman Marijn Kremers, who has since gone back to karting, a discipline in which he has won several titles. While such a path is not uncommon given that Feed Racing caters to those without substantial personal backing, others have gone on to successful careers in car racing too. Last year, Robert de Haan, who won the 2020–21 edition, took the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany title and finished runner-up to the Porsche Supercup – repeating the latter feat this season as well.

Last year’s shootout was won by Israeli sim racer Yuval Rosen, who lies 10th in this season’s French F4 standings, having taken his maiden win in the second race of the third round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The format and schedule

This year’s shootout has followed the same format as in previous years, with quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals narrowing down the eventual winners. 

From June to August 2026, a selection camp consisting of three training stages was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours’ Club circuit. Participants come from all over the world and must be between 14 and 20 years old.

Each camp lasted five days, with eight quarter-finalists each – 24 in total – selected at the end of each one and eight additional drivers being drafted by the jury. The drivers were ranked according to the average of their three fastest lap times over two six-lap stints on fresh tyres.

The quarter-finals took place on the Club layout once again on 1 and 2 September, while the semi-finals took place a day later with the 12 best drivers from the quarter-finals selected. From those, the six fastest qualified for the grand final on the full Magny-Cours layout used in French F4 and formerly in F1.

The finals take place from 28 September to 1 October. They are not streamed, but live timing can be followed here.

The first two days of the finals involve a seat fitting and exploration of the circuit, with several test sessions. On 30 September, drivers will run in a qualifying session to draw the duels for the final day. The fastest driver will face the driver qualified in sixth, the second the fifth and the third the fourth one.

Then, on 1 October, the duels will take place. Three drivers will qualify directly for the next stage, while the jury will draft another fourth driver – who will have lost his duel – for the next round. There are once again two duels, with still the best driver qualifying to the next stage according to the average of his three fastest laps. Then, only two drivers remain for the ultimate final, with the victor earning the 2026 Feed Racing scholarship. 

The drivers

In the order of their fastest times in the semi-finals, the first finalist is Jean-Arthur Foubert from France. The 14-year-old has primarily competed in the National Series Karting and the Rotax Max Challenge France, scoring a second-place finish in the latter series this year in the Senior Max class. He is the son of Jean-Ludovic Foubert, a gentleman driver who participated in the European Le Mans Series from 2022 to 2025 in the LMP3 category.

Kiril Gense is the only finalist hailing from Germany. The 18-year-old primarily competes in the Rotax Max Challenge Germany in the Senior class. This year, he finished fifth in the two-round RMC Germany Winter Cup and sixth in the main season.

The oldest in the competition is the Swedish-French driver Rafael Theveny. The 18-year-old has a karting CV consisting of participation in multiple WSK series, the Andrea Margutti Trophy, the Trofeo delle Industrie and the Championnat de France, though perhaps his biggest achievement is finishing runner-up in the 2022 IAME Warriors Final in the KA100 class. 

Léni Robillot Lagache, who turns 15 in December, is the fourth finalist. The Frenchman was the runner-up in the 2022 Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy’s Mini class and has mostly made a name for himself in French series. His best year yet came in 2025, when he finished third in the Rotax Max Challenge France, second in the National Karting Series and first the FFSA French Cup, all in the Nationale class. He made a switch to KZ2 this year and participated in the recent FIA Karting World Cup at Le Mans.

For the second year in a row, there is a driver from Israel in the finals. Eighteen-year-old Yam Pinto has karted internationally since 2018 – more specifically in Rotax Max championships – and represented his country in the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games in Sprint Junior karting. More recently, Pinto finished second in the 2024 and 2025 Rotax Max Challenge Central Europe’s Senior Max category and fourth in the senior category of the 2026 FIA Karting Arrive & Drive European Championship. 

The last of the finalists is perhaps the biggest name on the list. Fourteen-year-old Luka Scelles from Rouen competes under the guidance of Guillaume de Goff, the manager of Pierre Gasly. He was third in the 2022 Rotax Max Challenge International Trophy’s Mini Max class. Upon moving to the OK-Junior category in 2024, he came seventh in the WSK Final Cup, 10th in both the 52nd Trofeo delle Industrie and the 2025 FIA Karting World Championship, ninth in the 2025 Champions of the Future Euro Series and fifth in the 2025 FIA Karting European Championship. He moved up to the OK class at the end of 2025 and achieved two fourth-place finishes in WSK-sanctioned events before sustaining a wrist injury that prematurely ended his season in May.

Full list of 2026 Feed Racing participants

C = camp; QF = quarter-final; SF = semi-final

Finalists

• Jean-Arthur Foubert, France (C2, QF1, SF1), 1:06.750
• Kiril Gense, Germany (C3, QF2, SF4), 1:06.915
• Rafael Theveny, France (C3, QF1, SF3), 1:06.925
• Léni Robillot Lagache, France (C3, QF2, SF4), 1:06.941
• Yam Pinto, Israel (C2 Jury, QF2, SF3), 1:06.973
• Luka Scelles, France (C3 Jury, QF2, SF3), 1:07.000

Semi-finalists

• Eliott Brocard, France (C2, QF2, SF2)
• Antoine Carrere, France (C3, QF1, SF1)
• Antonio Cocchianella, Italy (C3, QF2, SF2)
• Arthur Gilbert, France (C1, QF1, SF2)
• Marc Granada, Spain (C2, QF1, SF1)
• Nils Lelaure, Belgium (C2, QF1, SF4)

Quarter-finalists

• Kaïs Aziza, Switzerland (C1, QF1)
• Alexis Baillargeon, Canada (C1, QF2)
• Owen Baroni, France (C1, QF2)
• Victor Litaudon, France (C1, QF1)
• Fabio Pelleriti, Brazil (C1, QF1)
• Daniele Schillaci, Italy (C1, QF2)
• István Vass, Hungary (C1, QF1)
• Noa Anaimi, Morocco (C2, QF2)
• Augustin Dieulin, France (C2, QF1)
• Grégoire Merly-Alpa, France (C2, QF1)
• Louka Michel, France (C2, QF2)
• Hugo Lacroix, France (C3, QF2)
• Brando Londono, Canada (C3, QF2)
• Alessandro Truchot, USA (C3, QF1)
• Marcella Assumpçao, Brazil (C3 Jury, QF2)
• Gabriel Balog, Canada (C3 Jury, QF1)
• Matthéo Bordes, France (C3 Jury, QF1)
• Gaspard Grosson, France (C2 Jury, QF1)
• Philippe Lapègue, France (C2 Jury, QF2)
• Nicola Stanley, USA (C1 Jury, QF2)

Additional reporting by Perceval Wolff-Taffus

Header photo courtesy of Feed Racing