French F4

Ye Yifei Returns to Winning Ways for Race 3 at Magny-Cours

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YE Yifei (chn) F4 during the 2016 GT Tour circuit french championship, from July 8 to 10 at Magny-Cours, France - Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI

Ye Yifei in the #20 1600cc Renault powered French F4 machine took victory in race three. The Chinese driver held off his rivals to once again complete another grand slam; pole, fastest lap and race win.

Ye was once again the man at the head of the field, as second place Gilles Magnus tried to get the jump as the lights went out. The Chinese driver pulled off a repeat of race one and cut in front of Magnus before the first turn.

Further back, the battle for third intensified with Javier Cobian banging wheels against Theo Coicurd. The Spaniard maintained his position but the battle was far from over. Elsewhere, Hugo Chavalier made a brave move on Arthur Rougier into turn nine. He followed this up with moves on Pierre-Alexander Jean and Jean-Baptise Mela, who ended up bouncing through the gravel.

Back at the front, Ye and Magnus broke away leaving a large gap to third place Cobian. It was during these laps that Ye set the fastest lap, establishing his dominance.

The best fight on track soon became the squabble for fifth as Coicurd held off Michael Benyahia. A coming together between Rougier and Jose Sierra dropped them away from the points, though no safety car was called.

In another homage to race one, Cobian caught Magnus, pressuring him into a mistake. Further back Benyahia finally got beside his rival into turn seven, taking fourth and leaving Coicurd with the rapidly closing Jean and Chevalier.

Jean made the lunge into the hairpin, Coicurd moved over and the two touched. Caught in each others cars they ran into the gravel, bringing out the yellow flags.

In the meantime, Cobian got past Magnus to the delight of Ye, as he watched his nearest rival lose points. A number of driver squabbled for positions further back, but it would all be to little affect.

Ye claimed another dominant victory with Cobian and Magnus completing the podium. Benyahia took fourth from a lonely Chevalier. Meanwhile, Mela held off a queue of Tristan Charpentier and Aleks Karkosik to take sixth.

Credit: Nick Smith / TheImageTeam.com
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