Ye Yifei won his thirteenth race of the year at Le Mans Bugatti Circuit. He was pushed to the line by his French F4 Championship rival though held on to further extend his lead in the series.
After another strong qualifying from the championship leader, Ye led the field away at Le Mans. Behind him a squabble for second hindered both rookie Victor Martins and Tristan Charpentier.
Gilles Magnus used the confusion to slip into second as Charpentier held up Martins. It was a fairly clean start for all the drivers as the field spread out further back.
It wasn’t plain sailing for Ye though. The Chinese driver failed to break away from Magnus as a two-way battle for the lead ensued. Behind the top four, Arthur Rougier held up a four car queue, with Theo Coicurd the most prominent challenger.
Marvin Klein had become one of the quickest drivers on the grid as the race settled in. Despite his effort though, interference from the battle in front saw Coicurd gain a place on the dropping Rougier. Klein would follow him through, but not before losing a second on his rival in front.
Eventually Michael Benyahia caught them, getting involved, taking both drivers to gain two places and run sixth. It wouldn’t last long though and Klein made his way back through before the conclusion.
Meanwhile, at the head of the pack, Ye was unable to break the tow of Magnus, setting up an intense battle for the lead between the championship challengers.
Ye kept Magnus at a manageable distance and took yet another victory with the Belgium driver just behind. Rounding out the podium was Charpentier after holding off the impressive rookie of Martins.
Coicurd eventually collected a lonely fifth with Klein and Benyahia behind. Rougier, despite running as high as fourth dropped back to eighth by the time the flag flew.
