Macéo Capietto after his FRECA tests: “A nice surprise”

Macéo, given the times of the two days of testing at Le Castellet (December 9-10), it would seem that you stood out for your debut in a F3 Regional…

I had a day with Prema in Imola which had already gone well, last November 24. I was a tenth faster than Sebastian Montoya (Prema) on the first train, and a tenth slower on the second, so it was pretty good. From there, we started to think that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to try to do Regional F3 rather than Italian F4, which was what I was thinking of going towards. So I tested at G4 Racing at Le Castellet on Thursday and Friday. It worked well performance-wise. I also felt very good in the team. It works hard and they were very understanding, especially when it was necessary to change the setting of the car when I started to suffer physically.

In terms of performance, it seems to have worked well in the rain!

It's true that it rained the whole first day, and every time the track was wet, I was in front. Afterwards, of course, we were taken back when it dried. But for a first day at Paul Ricard in a Regional F3, it wasn't bad. The second day was quite similar: as soon as it rained (in the morning), we were at the forefront. In the afternoon it was dry and as soon as I put on the fresh tires I took pole. We only put two sets of new tires per day (one wet), while the other teams had more of three (two dry, one wet). And I had the best time ahead of Kas Haverkort (VAR) and the Prema on my only set of new tires. Then Prema made a last run in nine and Beganovic improved in front of me. I didn't have any anymore. 

Did you expect it to work straight away even though it was a new car for you?

I admit that I perhaps didn't expect to be so fast, even if I imagined I wouldn't be too far off the mark. But it’s true that being in front from the start is a surprise, a good surprise (laughs). I hope it works in Barcelona too, Monday and Tuesday too.

What are the chances of seeing you on the grid in 2022?

I really don't know. What is certain is that this is clearly the objective now. You have to find the budget. We hope to have help here and there. Fingers crossed that it happens, I will do everything for my part on the track too.