During the first week’s conferences (10-14 March) the 21 drivers entered for the 2014 French Formula 4 Championship met up at the Auto Sport Academy. The trainees were champing at the bit to begin the new season and find out who they will be doing battle with.
The aim of the two weeks’ conferences (included in the entry fee) is to bring together all the participants in the 2014 championship and to enable them to follow the dif-ferent courses that are indispensable before the start of the season. The Auto Sport Academy and its instructors, who are very conscientious when it comes to the quality of the training given to the drivers, organised various workshops during these group courses to enable the trainees to familiarise themselves with subjects like the regulations governing motor sport, how the mechanical side works, data acquisition, road safety, diet, taxes and business law, sponsoring and anti-doping measures. Physical tests and medical examinations were also part of the programme without forgetting relaxation and fitness training courses, which the new drivers should include in their training.As numerous foreign drivers have been enrolled with no fewer than eight countries represented, Finland, Russia, Switzerland, Columbia, Mexico, Australia, Sweden and Great Britain, the courses had to be given in French, English and Spanish.
Thus, the drivers who will make up the field of the 2014 championship, also took part in a draw for the allocation of the cars that they will drive throughout the year, discovered the new livery of the F4s and were at last able to associate their names with the race number allocated to them. The first week ended with the final adjustments to the seats and driving positions, after which they took part in the first official collective test session in which the Academy’s trainees drove brand-new single-seaters.
Among the new tweaks on this year’s F4s are a rear crash box, an extractable seat and wheel tethers. At the end of the first session the drivers were able to talk to all the instructors and staff and ask ques-tions to tackle the start of the season in the best possible conditions.
The next course will take place on 1-4 April. It will enable this year’s crop of Auto Sport Academy trainees to take part in another day’s official collective test session on the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, before the 2014 French F4 Championship kicks off on the same track during the first leg of the GT Tour on 25-27 April.
Once again the overall level of the field is extremely high and it looks like the French F4 Championship will enjoy a very rich season from a sporting point of view. Without doubt, the victory contenders will become major players in tomorrow’s motor sport.
Christophe Lollier – Sports manager
“The variety of nations in the 2014 field with drivers from different international kart championships will give our young hopefuls the opportunity to take on the international elite on an equal footing. The French F4 Championship is following the objectives set by the national centre as it’s an excel-lent tool for spotting young, talented drivers.”
Press Office
Virginie Pourtout