Lisa Billard displayed impressive speed and racecraft at Dijon-Prenois during her second weekend in the French Formula 4 Championship, regularly matching the pace of top-10 drivers, while showing speed and confidence in a number of overtaking manoeuvres.
Lisa Billard continued her impressive start to her French Formula 4 Championship career by showing superb performance at Dijon-Prenois. Although not achieving the results her pace deserved, Billard regularly lapped on-pace with those inside the top-10 while showing speed and confidence in a number of overtaking manoeuvres. Lisa was set to gain 10 positions during a recovery drive in race three, however a late-race incident saw her retire on the penultimate lap.
Billard made her French Formula 4 Championship debut at the previous round at Magny-Cours, with the youngest driver in the field impressing in changeable conditions. Lisa finished inside the top-10 during the pre-event test sessions and although replicating this speed during the three races was a challenge, she made considerable progress in her maiden trio of single seater starts. Achieving a best result of 16th in race two of the weekend, Lisa raced confidently in the midfield as she made a smooth transition from karting.
The race weekend at Dijon-Prenois began with a number of test sessions on Thursday. In the first session, Billard set the overall fastest final sector and this allowed her to finish the session seventh overall. Free practice on Friday was also encouraging for the young French driver who set the 11th fastest time, less than one second away from pacesetting Yani Stevenheydens.
Billard was aiming to carry her strong form into qualifying which took place on Friday afternoon and would set the grid for all three races. Her initial speed was extremely strong and Lisa briefly held the overall fastest middle sector. Remaining within track limits was a challenge for the majority of the drivers and Billard lost one of her quickest times as a result. At the end of the session, Billard had set the 21st fastest time but was less than one second away from the pole position time set by Taito Kato.
Starting the first race of the weekend from 21st position, Billard made a clean start and although initially dropping positions off the line, this ensured she avoided a three-car incident at the first turn. Ending lap one in 21st position, the race was neutralised behind the safety car as two of the damaged cars required recovery. As the race restarted, Billard was immediately on the move as she overtook both Pablo Riccobono Bello and Enzo Caldaras, while losing out to Alexandre Munoz.
Now inside the top-20 overall, Lisa made full use of the clearer track ahead and set a lap time which was quicker than the next six drivers ahead. After resisting pressure from a recovering Caldaras during the middle portion of the race, Billard turned defence into offense as she caught and passed Italian racer Leonardo Megna.
A clean pass at the first turn on lap 11 moved Lisa into 18th position and once again she pulled out a gap on the group of drivers behind. Billard’s pace remained strong in the closing stages as she took the checkered flag in 18th position, later promoted to 17th following a penalty assessed to Irish driver Alex O’Grady.
Race two of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Billard starting from 21st position overall. It was a challenging start as she fell to 24th at the end of lap one, however she avoided damage as the safety car was deployed for an incident in the midfield. When the racing resumed, Lisa moved ahead of both Romeo Leurs and Chester Kieffer before running side by side with Louis Schlesser.
As lap five began, Billard cleared Schlesser but lost out to a recovering Kieffer as he moved his way through the field. Leurs was also regaining speed following an early incident and he overtook Billard on lap eight, before she settled into a mid-race rhythm. At the start of lap 11, Billard ran side-by-side with Pablo Riccobono Bello and contact was made between the drivers. Lisa was able to make it back to the pit lane, however the damage sustained forced her to retire from the race.
For the final race of the weekend, the grid was set by the second fastest times set in Friday’s qualifying session and therefore Billard lined up from 19th. It was another challenging start for the young driver who dropped to the rear of the field at the end of lap one, however her race pace was once again strong.
Moving ahead of Louis Schlesser and Paul Roques on lap two, she was also ahead of Alexandre Munoz and Romeo Leurs one lap later. Billard was now faster than every driver outside of the top-10 and was looking to make her speed count as the race progressed.
On lap four, Billard gained a further position as Gabriel Doyle-Parfait spun into the gravel and the recovery of his car necessitated a safety car intervention. When the racing resumed, Lisa benefited from a moment for Karel Schulz as she entered the top-20 for the first time since the opening lap. Billard then overtook Mathilda Paatz and Pablo Riccobono Bello as she moved into 18th, before a move on Leonardo Megna elevated her to 17th position.
Billard continued to impress in the closing stages of the race as her race pace regularly matched those inside the top-10. This speed allowed her to catch Jason Leung and the young French racer was poised to make a move on the Canadian driver on the penultimate lap. Contact was made between the drivers which saw Billard retire from the race, an unfortunate end to a superb drive in which she displayed good racecraft.
Despite not achieving the results her speed deserved at Dijon-Prenois, Billard once again showed excellent speed in just her second weekend in single seaters. Regularly lapping as quickly as those in the top half of the field, Lisa should be encouraged by this pace in light of her lack of experience compared to her rivals.
Billard will be looking to end the season on a high when the French Formula 4 Championship drivers head to Circuit Paul Ricard for the season finale on the weekend of October 5th/6th.
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