Caroline Candas takes triple-podium, leads FFSA TC standings

Young French driver Caroline Candas had a remarkable start to the FFSA TC championship at Nogaro, where she claimed three podiums out of four races and secured the championship lead.

Photo credits: Twenty-One-Creation | Jules Benichou

Young French driver Caroline Candas had a brilliant start of her racing season with three podiums in the Easter round at Nogaro, traditional opening event of the FFSA championships.

Candas graduated to the TC class after contesting one round in TC Light in 2022 - where she had already claimed two class wins at the same track.

In a strong 30-car field and with the addition of the TCR category, the TC class remained the biggest field on the FFSA TC series; the four races offered plenty of action and three different winners - with a fourth driver leading the standings: it is in fact Candas to emerge as the most consistent driver after the first race meeting.

At the wheel of the Peugeot 308 RC run by JSB Compétition, Candas immediately showed her pace in practice and qualifying, where proved to be a contender for the overall top 10 and for the podium in class.

Candas set the eleventh and seventh fastest time overall in the two qualifying sessions, fourth and third in class respectively, and went on to claim three class podiums and four overall top ten finishes in the races.

Candas also showed good racecraft in the battles, never putting a foot wrong and steadily moving up the order in the tightly fought multi-class races.

While she kept her starting position in race 1, where she finished fourth, Candas would never leave the TC podium from the second race, where she finished third - and seventh overall.

The young driver improved once again in race 3, where she was second in TC and sixth overall, in a race halted by a red flag in the closing minutes.

Candas often battled with the faster GT Light entries and would stand on the rostrum once again in race 4, with a further third place that gained her the lead in the points' standings, ahead of two-time race winner and JSB Compétition teammate Sébastien Thome and Kevin Ropars (Ropars Racing Team).

Candas graduated from karting in 2021, having previously raced in the IAME series - including the International final at Le Mans - and the French karting championship.

Part of the La Filiere Endurance - a program that supports young drivers up the ranks of prototype and GT racing - Candas had the chance to test a variety of race cars - including the FFSA French F4 - and made her car racing debut in 2022.

She mainly competed in the Ultimate Cup platform with JSB Compétition, where she collected crucial experience ahead of her full time debut in the FFSA Touring Car championship.

With such a positive result at Nogaro, Candas will aim to carry momentum into the second round of the season at Magny Cours, on 5-7 May.