FFSA F4 - Round 03 - Pau Street Circuit

Third Round of the FFSA F4 takes place in the Street of the Southern West City of Pau. Mixed conditions was waiting the Young Danish Talent Casper Roes Andersen during the three days with the following program : Free Practice and Qualifying on Friday, Race 1 & 2 on Saturday and Race 3 on Sunday morning.

Free Practice was to take place on early friday morning on a wet track which was going to dry through the end of the session. The field of 16 cars and young drivers was released on track at 8.30 to discover the narrow street of Pau and trying to learn as fast as possible the 2,7 km track and avoiding any contact with the barriers. As the track was green and humid, the conditions were changing at every lap and it was a challenge for the young drivers to stay on track and trying to be the fastest. Casper managed well the Free Practice as he was able to sign the 3rd fastest lap time and build up his confidence for the end of afternoon qualifying.

Qualifying was under a bright sun and totally different track conditions than the morning. It was important for the drivers to adapt as fast as possible to the new conditions and to play with the limit of their car to perform a good lap time without going over the limit which will be sanctionned with a contact with the barriers. Casper Roes Andersen managed pretty well the new conditions for the first part of the qualifying, being a regular top 5 driver and it was looking pretty good. Unfortunately a few mistakes in the last 4 laps of qualifying prevented him from improving his laptime while the rest of the field was improving and from P5 he dropped down to P11 at the end of the qualifying. Disappointment was big for Casper as he knew he was able to start at the front of the field and he had the pace to do so.

Tricky conditions for the first race of the morning when it started to drizzle in the formation lap. All the drivers were on slick tyres and Casper Røes Andersen made a solid race staying on track and grabbing some positions. From P9 at the start he finished the first lap P8 and move further up to P5 putting pressure on the guy in front of him. The rain started to intensify and the race direction decided to deploy the Red flag 2 minutes before the end off the race as the conditions were becoming too dangerous on slick tyres. Classified P5 scoring some big points.

Race 2 in the sunny and summer weather of the City of Pau. Starting P6 Casper Røes Andersen made a good start and keep his position at the end of the first lap. Race was interrupted by a safety car at the beginning in order to evacuate a crashed car at the back of the field. The race restarted and Casper tried his best to put pressure on the driver in front of him but despite his good speed, in the narrow streets of Pau it is difficult to pass. He took the chequered flag in P5 for the second time of the day and keep scoring solid points in the championship.

Final Race of the Week End under the sun and the heat in the narrow streets of Pau. Casper Røes Andersen was starting P11. A very good start made him gain a position, passing the start/finish line of the first lap in P10. Speed was here but as it has been seen in the other races of the week end it is hard to overtake in Pau even if you have the speed. Casper put a lot of effort to put pressure. He stayed on track committed to find an opening to make a move. A few guys in front were too optimistic on their speed or their intended moves and had some experiences with the barriers. The solid race from Casper was rewarding with a P7 and some more points for the Championship. A few things learnt during the week end and the main focus for the next Round will be on maximising the qualifying.