2018 Volant Elf

2018 Volant Elf
Date	24-25 November
Venue	Circuit Paul Ricard
Length	34 laps (199.27 km)
Prize	Voeckler AR 3.5 seat in 2019
Participants	18
Pole position
Driver	Fotis Iordanou
Time	1:35.681
Fastest lap
Driver	Darko Kuzmanović
Time	1:39.429
Podium finishers
First	Fotis Iordanou
Second	Template:FRA Lukas Zuber
Third	Template:BEL Alexandre Dorval

The 2018 Volant Elf was the 24th edition of the Elf-sponsored post-season contest - the first since 1994 - amongst mostly Francophone drivers, held at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. The winner of the event was offered a fully-funded ride with Renault Academy Voeckler in the AutoReject 3.5 series as the grand prize.

Entry List

Entrant	No.	Driver	Series
Fotis Iordanou	3	Fotis Iordanou	None
Template:FRA Lukas Zuber	5	Template:FRA Lukas Zuber	FIA Formula 2
Falik Flèches	8	Yuka Katayama	Formula 5000
	37	Hwok Kwol-Cho	AutoReject 3.5
Ecurie Monaco	11	Naas Botha	International Procar
Template:BEL Lotto Racing	13	Rafael Martins	AutoReject 2.0
Template:SUI Luke Depault Racing	17	Template:AUT T.K. Wolf	FIA Formula 2
	18	Antonio Didac Puerta	FIA Formula 3
Pyotr Mikoyan	19	Pyotr Mikoyan	FIA Formula 2
Template:GBR Astro Racing Group	20	Alexander Obolensky	FIA Formula 2
Template:FRA Panthera Junior Team	21	Template:FRA Emma Le Blan	None
Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	25	Template:BEL Alexandre Dorval	FIA Formula 2
Boris Pavlović	27	Boris Pavlović	International Procar
Template:FRA Équipe Fantomette	44	Darko Kuzmanović	AutoReject 3.5
Template:FRA Rene Récarmier	45	Template:FRA Rene Récarmier	None
Genesis Engineering	67	Daniel Bouchard	None
Template:USA John D. Sullivan	88	Template:USA John D. Sullivan	FIA Formula 3
Sandra Yoo	99	Sandra Yoo	International Procar

Qualifying

In a surprising twist, some of the younger members of the field came to the fore in qualifying. Greek driver Fotis Iordanou took a somewhat surprising pole, given having spent most of the the 2018 season on the sidelines through a lack of finance. Another to qualify above expectations was Antonio Didac Puerta, who had struggled to get to grips with Formula 3 after moving from across the pond to Europe. He had exceeded expectations by qualifying 4th ahead of his more lauded team-mate T.K. Wolf.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time
1	3	Fotis Iordanou	Privateer	1:35.681
2	11	Naas Botha	Ecurie Monaco	+0.175
3	25	Template:BEL Alexandre Dorval	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	+0.189
4	18	Antonio Didac Puerta	Template:SUI Luke Depault Racing	+0.260
5	17	Template:AUT T.K. Wolf	Template:SUI Luke Depault Racing	+0.286
6	5	Template:FRA Lukas Zuber	Privateer	+0.292
7	20	Alexander Obolensky	Template:GBR Astro Racing Group	+0.319
8	8	Yuka Katayama	Falik Flèches	+0.330
9	67	Daniel Bouchard	Genesis Engineering	+0.352
10	45	Template:FRA Rene Récarmier	Privateer	+0.392
11	37	Hwok Kwol-Cho	Falik Flèches	+0.414
12	88	Template:USA John D. Sullivan	Privateer	+0.465
13	13	Rafael Martins	Template:BEL Lotto Racing	+0.548
14	19	Pyotr Mikoyan	Privateer	+0.567
15	44	Darko Kuzmanović	Template:FRA Équipe Fantomette	+0.663
16	27	Boris Pavlović	Privateer	+0.706
17	21	Template:FRA Emma Le Blan	Template:FRA Panthera Junior Team	+0.750
18	99	Sandra Yoo	Privateer	+2.569

Race

Despite an early challenge from the lead from Alexandre Dorval, Iordanou sailed away into the distance as the race went on, securing an emphatic win, and the grand prize of a fully paid drive in the 2019 AutoReject 3.5 season with Renault Academy Voeckler. The star performer of the race was Zuber, who despite dropping six places at the start and out of the Top 10, surged up the order as the race wore on to take second place.

Rafael Martins meanwhile was lucky to avoid picking up any penalties, having roughed up not one but two rivals during the course of the race. Attempting a bold move at Signes, attempting to pass both Daniel Bouchard and Emma Le Blan simultaneously, he instead squeezed Bouchard straight into the path of Le Blan, spinning the latter out and down to 17th place. He followed this up on the last lap of the race by clattering into Bouchard at the same corner, not spinning him, but still sending him off the road and down seven places into 16th.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Time
1	3	Fotis Iordanou	Privateer	57:37.592
2	5	Template:FRA Lukas Zuber	Privateer	+1.946
3	25	Template:BEL Alexandre Dorval	Template:BEL Gillet Ecurie Nationale Belge	+5.223
4	20	Alexander Obolensky	Template:GBR Astro Racing Group	+5.703
5	17	Template:AUT T.K. Wolf	Template:SUI Luke Depault Racing	+6.269
6	11	Naas Botha	Ecurie Monaco	+7.620
7	37	Hwok Kwol-Cho	Falik Flèches	+35.564
8	88	Template:USA John D. Sullivan	Privateer	+35.870
9	13	Rafael Martins	Template:BEL Lotto Racing	+38.535
10	8	Yuka Katayama	Falik Flèches	+40.643
11	27	Boris Pavlović	Privateer	+42.190
12	44	Darko Kuzmanović	Template:FRA Équipe Fantomette	+44.519
13	18	Antonio Didac Puerta	Template:SUI Luke Depault Racing	+44.965
14	19	Pyotr Mikoyan	Privateer	+45.392
15	21	Template:FRA Emma Le Blan	Template:FRA Panthera Junior Team	+45.744
16	67	Daniel Bouchard	Genesis Engineering	+46.817
17	45	Template:FRA Rene Récarmier	Privateer	+47.022
18	99	Sandra Yoo	Privateer	+48.361