French F4: Annabelle Brian just misses out on top-10 after strong F4 debut
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Annabelle Brian impressed with a standout debut drive from P26 to P11 in race 3 of the French F4 season opener at Nogaro, finishing just outside the top ten in her first weekend in single seaters, as Lisa Billard again showed front running speed but couldn't capitalize following a contact.
French F4's third race at Nogaro took place on Monday morning, as per the tradition of the Easter Cup weekend at Circuit Paul Armagnac, which opens the FFSA championships in the South West of France.
After two races on Sunday, there were promising performances by Lisa Billard, returning to the championship after making her F4 debut midway through 2024 in a guest role. Now in her first full season, Billard — who is also part of the Iron Dames young talent program — showed great speed at Nogaro in both practice and qualifying.
However, she was unable to fully capitalize on her pace in races 1 and 2: she was taken out through no fault of her own in the season opener, and in race 2, very challenging weather conditions saw her run off into the gravel while running in third, while trying to avoid an accident ahead. Nevertheless, she recovered to P17 and finished as the top female driver in race 2. She would to the track on Monday aiming even higher for the final race of the weekend.
Also showing great potential was Annabelle Brian; the Dutch rookie, on her first weekend in F4, was extremely solid on Sunday — finishing 16th and 18th in the rain and taking top female honours in race 1. In race 2, she was running as high as P13 and again stood out as the leading female driver before a mistake dropped her to P18. Despite that, she demonstrated strong pace and racecraft in tricky conditions.
Jade Jacquet and Sofia Zanfari each claimed a third-place finish among the female drivers across the first two races. Jacquet secured a top-20 finish in race 2 after some great battles, keeping it clean and moving up the order. Angelina Proenca had an unfortunate second race, but was the protagonist of a brilliant charge in race 1, gaining nine places to finish 19th. Heloise Goldberg also showed improvement and was looking to claim her first top-20 in Monday's contest.
The grid for race 3 was determined by the second-fastest times from qualifying and saw Alexandre Munoz — already the winner of the curtain-raiser — starting from pole. Lisa Billard lined up in P14, determined to break into the top ten for the first time. Jade Jacquet started P20, ahead of Angelina Proenca in P21, Annabelle Brian in P26, Sofia Zanfari in P28 and Heloise Goldberg in P29 in the 30-car French F4 field.
After a fully wet Sunday, Monday brought drier but still cloudy conditions. As the lights went out, everyone made it cleanly through Turn 1. Arthur Dorison hit trouble immediately, pitting at the end of the formation lap with what appeared to be engine issues. Soon after, there was an incident at Turn 1 when Matteo Giaccardi was spun by Hugo Herrouin and Paul Roques went off through the grass.
A separate incident brought out the safety car, involving Montego Maassen and Jason Shen, who were stranded on track with damage. Under caution, Munoz led; Lisa Billard had already moved up to P15, Jacquet was P16, Proenca P18, and Annabelle Brian had a stellar start from P26 to move into P19. Zanfari held P21 and Goldberg was P25.
The race was then red-flagged, with Shen’s car requiring a crane to be removed. All cars therefore returned to pit lane. The race resumed behind the safety car: lap 5 was the first green flag lap, but there was an immediate yellow as Romeo Leurs went off from fourth place at Turn 2 after contact with Perard. Leurs hit the barriers, but the incident was handled under local yellow without safety car intervention.
On the restart, Billard continued her climb and was up to P13. Jacquet also gained a position to move into P15, just ahead of Proenca in P16. Brian picked up two more places and was now P17, while Zanfari briefly broke into the top 20 before dropping back to P23.
One lap later, Brian again looked like the fastest among the female drivers, gaining further ground. Zanfari, battling several recovering drivers, was passed by Roques and dropped to P24. Billard, meanwhile, was showing strong pace and passed Proenca for P16.
The Iron Dame kept pushing and overtook Pirri for P12; Brian also got by Jacquet for P15 — the Dutchwoman displaying really strong pace with now a 5-second gap ahead to close.
A yellow flag came out at Turn 4 after Milojkovic went off into the gravel. That promoted Zanfari to P23 and Goldberg to P24, as she was drifting slightly behind the rest of the pack. Zanfari then made a small mistake, allowing Goldberg to close in and eventually pass for P23.
Meanwhile, Billard continued her charge and was now in a tight battle just behind the top ten, in a group fighting for P9. On lap 11, contact occurred between Billard, Rintaro Sato and Hugo Martiniello, with the Japanese driver spinning into the gravel.
Proenca lost 18th to Giaccardi while trying to hold on to a top-20 position. Billard had moved into P11, and Annabelle Brian was now closing in on this group as well, sitting in P13. Jacquet was holding off Proenca in P15, while Goldberg continued her progress and entered P20, ahead of Zanfari.
A new neutralization followed as the safety car came out for Sato, who remained in the gravel. Martiniello was also stranded, and Carvalho pitted with technical issues. The race restarted at the end of lap 14, with around 40 seconds remaining.
Sofia Zanfari had a strong restart and passed Goldberg, who hit trouble on the final lap. Munoz held off Roussel in a race-long battle to win race three — securing his second victory of the season.
Lisa Billard crossed the line in P11, but later received a 20-second time penalty for causing the earlier incident, dropping her to P19. Despite this, it was a strong showing for the Iron Dame, once again demonstrating the pace to battle near the front.
Annabelle Brian emerged as the star of the final race: charging from P26 on the grid to P11 at the finish, she battled with Giaccardi in the closing stages and initially finished 14th, but was promoted just outside the top ten after penalties. It was a remarkable race from the Dutch driver, who rounded out a very promising single-seater debut and again finished as the top female entry — ahead of Jacquet and Proenca, who finished 12th and 13th respectively after clean, consistent races.
Heloise Goldberg claimed her first top-20 finish, while Sofia Zanfari was unlucky to go off on the final lap just meters from the finish line. She was classified P21.
It was a strong debut for Annabelle Brian, who showed consistency and composure in both wet and dry conditions, kept her nose clean, and gained a total of 21 positions across the three races.
The opening round of the 2025 French F4 Championship was a positive start overall for the six female drivers — most of whom were making their single-seater debut — as they gained valuable experience and track time. Next up will be the triple-header at Dijon-Prenois, on 9–11 May.