18 year old French driver Angélina Favario will make her debut in the French F4 this weekend, as she joins FFSA Academy for the 2021 campaign after a testing program in 2020. She will be the only female driver in the field.
The French F4 championship is getting ready to start its engines, as the series kicks off its 2021 season with the 54th edition of the famous Easter Cup – followed by six more race meetings in France, Italy and Hungary.
16 drivers from France, Australia, Switzerland, India, The United Kingdom, Thailand and Poland will battle out on track to succeed Ayumu Iwasa, the 2020 French F4 Champion.
Among them, there will be a 18-year old French lady – Angélina Favario.
Favario will be the only female racer competing in the series and will make her F4 racing debut after an extensive testing program with FFSA Academy in 2020.
Her karting career started at the age of 13, as she entered regional championships where she quickly claimed podium finishes.
At 16, she went to Finland and learned to drive on ice, extending her experience beyond karting and the path of traditional racetracks. She then competed in the 2019 Andros e-Trophy – a popular French rallycross championship on ice – where she scored a victory and a fourth place.
But single-seaters are still very much the main target for Favario, who comes into the first triple-header at Circuit Paul Armagnac with high hopes.
"My passion for motorsport started when I was 13 at the karting track closest to my home." – she told us a few days prior to her debut in the championship. "It was at this age that I discovered motorsport. My goal is to reach the highest levels in single-seaters".
Having tested the Mygale F4 car at Nogaro and Le Castellet before, Favario will have to learn some of the tracks that the championship is set to visit later this year, but will nonetheless have the chance to kick off her adventure on a familiar circuit.
"I have already driven only on the Nogaro circuit and at Paul Ricard. The car is amazing, nothing has really changed [from the tests], even if I now drive it faster!"
"My goal for this season is to progress as much as possible, in order to get the best place." – she added.
Already an advocate for women in the sport, Angélina founded together with her parents the FSA (Favario Sport Automobile), an association to promote women in a men's dominated sport and to prove that women are as capable as men behind the wheel of a race car.
The Easter Cup at Nogaro will start on Saturday with a free practice session, followed by qualifying in the afternoon. Two of the three scheduled races will be contested on Sunday, while the final race will be on Monday morning.
Round 1, Nogaro - schedule:
Saturday 3rd April: Free Practice (09:15 – 09:45) and Qualifying (16:20 – 16:45)
Sunday 4th April: Race 1 (10:45 – 11:10) and Race 2 (16:45 – 17:10)
Monday 5th April: Race 3 (11:15 – 11:40)