Lisa Billard completes French F4 Championship season with a top-20 finish at Circuit Paul Ricard
- LIAM REDFORD
- Oct 8, 2024
- 4 min read
Lisa Billard concluded her partial French F4 Championship season with an encouraging final round at Circuit Paul Ricard, showing improved racecraft and securing a best finish of 18th, gaining valuable experience as she aims for a full-season campaign in 2025.
Lisa Billard ended her French F4 Championship campaign with a positive final round of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard. After a tough qualifying session where she battled technical issues, Billard made two excellent starts in both races one and two.
This allowed her to achieve a best result of 18th in the second race of the weekend before conditions changed for Sunday’s race three. Competing in a fully wet race, Lisa gained vital experience to take the checkered flag in 24th position in the season finale.
Billard has made an extremely encouraging start to her single seater career having competed in the two most recent rounds of the French F4 Championship at Magny-Cours and Dijon-Prenois. A best result of 16th from this pair of events did not reflect her speed, with Billard regularly lapping on-pace with those inside the top-10. Now heading to Circuit Paul Ricard for the season finale, Lisa was aiming to develop her racecraft and secure a season’s best result to end her partial campaign on a high.
On-track at got underway on Thursday as the young races took part in five separate test sessions in preparation for the competitive action on Friday. It was a productive day for Billard who completed a total of 52 laps, while her best result of the day came in the final session as she clocked the 11th fastest time. Friday’s single free practice session also brought encouragement for Lisa as she set the 17th quickest time, however just one second away from third position.
Lap times remained extremely close in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session as Billard aimed to carry forward her practice pace to secure a strong starting position. It was a challenging session for the young driver who was searching for improvements throughout the session while managing a technical issue. Setting her quickest time on the final lap of the session, Billard qualified in 26th and was looking to make progress in the three races to follow.
Following a carry-over penalty from the previous round at Dijon-Prenois, Billard lined up from 27th position for the opening race of the weekend. Lisa made her the best start of her French F4 Championship career to date, immediately gaining positions off the line before ending lap one in 20th position. The safety car was then deployed to retrieve the stricken car of Leonardo Megna which had received damage and required recovering.
As the racing got back underway, Billard initially did well to maintain position before losing out to a recovering Chester Kieffer. After the Luxembourgish driver moved ahead, Billard ran side-by-side with Arjun Chheda in an attempt to move back inside the top-20. As a result, this saw Lisa coming under pressure from Alexandre Munoz and the French racer moved ahead on lap five. Paul Roques was then able to find a way past Billard, however she then ran a personal best time and was now quicker than the next three drivers ahead.
Gaining valuable experience in the closing stages of race one, Lisa ended her debut contest at Circuit Paul Ricard in 23rd position, later promoted to 22nd after a penalty for a rival.
Race two of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Billard starting from 26th position courtesy of her qualifying result.
Lisa made another excellent start and gained five positions to move into 21st position as the safety car was deployed. Billard was then elevated into the top-20 as Chester Kieffer suffered a technical issue prior to the restart, with the racing getting back underway on lap five.
Billard quickly moved into 19th position as Frank Porte Ruiz entered the pits. The young French driver then came under pressure from drivers behind and lost out to both Romeo Leurs and Edouard Borgna on lap six. Billard was able to run directly behind this pair and two laps later, she was able to benefit from an incident involving Louis Schlesser and Paul Roques. A strong end to the race saw Billard take the checkered flag in 18th position to secure her best result to date at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Conditions were more challenging for the final race of the weekend on Sunday morning with rain falling which led to a start behind the safety car. Billard’s second fastest time in qualifying saw her line up from 26th position on the grid, with the race getting underway after one lap at a reduced pace. It was a good start for Billard despite her limited wet weather experience as she gained one position at the conclusion of lap two.
A strong third lap saw Lisa close in on Mathilda Paatz before running side-by-side with her rival to start lap four. Billard was able to successfully complete the move and push towards the next group of drivers. Although she was unable to advance her position in the closing stages, Billard banked valuable experience and took the checkered flag in 24th position to complete a productive weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard.
Billard has shown great promise in her partial season in the French F4 Championship, showing excellent speed despite her limited experience. Her racecraft at Circuit Paul Ricard took a step forward as she made two excellent starts in races one and two.
After her encouraging start to her single seater career, including four top-20 finishes, Billard will be targeting a full-season programme in 2025 as she continues her motorsport journey.
