Frenċ Bakere
 | |
| Born | Frenċ Thierry Bakere 24 October 1995 Torosa, Montcrabe |
|---|---|
| Gran-Prix One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Montcrabin |
| 2023 team | Iżakk |
| Car number | 77 |
| Championships | TBD (2022) |
| First entry | 2016 Baltanlan Gran Prix |
| 2022 position | TBD (xx pts) |
| Signature |  |
| Previous series | |
| 2015 2014 | Gran-Prix 2 Championship Gran-Prix 3 Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 2015 2014 | Gran-Prix 2 Championship Gran-Prix 3 Championship |
| Awards | |
| FIA Rookie of the Year (2016) | |
Frenċ "Fredo" Thierry Bakere (born October 24, 1995), is a Montcrabin racing driver in the Gran-Prix One competition with the Iżakk-Crabota GP1 Team, which he has been with since his debut in 2016. He has won X GP1 races, winning his first one for Iżakk Racing in the X-PRIX. He is contracted to Iżakk, following a recent extension, to the end of the 2027 season in a deal worth a reported ᕮ45 million a year.
Bakere joined the Iżakk Racing Driver Development Programme in 2009, making the transition from karting to racing at the age of 16 in 2011. Frenċ was given a spot to participate in the Gran-Prix 3 in 2014, outright winning the competition in his debut year to ascend to the Gran-Prix 2 for 2015. Shockingly, the young prospect won the competition once again and was immediately offered to join Iżakk Racing's GP1 team under heavy interest from other competitors. Signing a contract up to the 2023 season, Bakare was heavily criticized for refusing offers from Renehan and Scutari to sign for Iżakk instead.
Frenċ's debut season in 2016 saw him place 7th with two podiums to earn the FIA Rookie of the Year award. He replicated his placement in the second season, now joined by driving partner Mikhail Kotlavchenko in Iżakk. Bakere's third season in 2018 bore similar results, with an 8th place finish in the driver's championship. The 2019 Gran-Prix One had him place at a disappointing 10th, partly attributed to disagreements with Iżakk staff and the breaching of orders. Frenċ finished in 4th place in both 2020 and 2021, followed by 5th in the most recent 2022 Gran-Prix One season. Notably, he broke the record for the fastest ever lap in the Montcrabe City Grand Prix in 2022 at 1:14.693.
Contents
Personal life
Born in Torosa, Montcrabe, Bakere is the only child of Montcrabin former second-division football player, Chandler Bakere, and Marla de Chawki. Having shown early talent for karting at a young age, Bakere has lived in Montcrabe City since age 12, as part of the Principati's Talents Project. Frenċ dated actress Danjela Bianca from 2017 to 2022.
Bakere has referred to himself as an "avid fan" of football, stating his support and even appearing in countless games for Montcrabin club Real Parante. He is also very close friends with Parante footballer Karim Bencrabe, who he has been spotted with in various different events for the club and outside of it. In a 2016 interview following his debut, Frenċ stated that he would've liked to be a football player if he had not been a racing driver.
Gran-Prix One
Iżakk (2016-present)
2016 season
TBD
2017 season
TBD
2018 season
TBD
2019 season
TBD
2020 season
TBD
2021 season
TBD
2022 season
TBD
2023 season
Bakere started the season badly at the Baltanlan Grand Prix, qualifying in last (at 18th) and being unable to finish the race following an engine failure. A similar problem was faced by his fellow Mikhail Kotlavchenko, who was only able to finish the race in 9th. The Rakhmani Grand Prix continued the extremely underwhelming start of the season for the Montcrabin, qualifying last once more, and only being able to scrape points with a 7th place finish in the sprint, followed by 12th in the race. Frenċ cited "constant issues" with the Crabota CMC2022 engine for his poor form at the beginning of the season, leading to revisions by Iżakk and Crabota. The Bostonia Grand Prix saw Bakere qualify in 8th and end the race in 9th after a small time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. In Karimun, he improved on his 9th place in qualification to finish 5th in the race. At his home, in the Montcrabe City Grand Prix, he qualified in 13th and ended the race in 10th - a complex improvement in the Crabin Circuit to end with 1 point.
After the Montcrabe City Grand Prix, Iżakk held a press conference to address the poor form at the start of the season, attributing it to a persistent gearbox issue which, they claimed, had now been fixed for the upcoming Creeperian Grand Prix. Results were immediate, with Bakere qualifying in 6th and taking the lead for most of the race. An emergency pitstop to replace a punctured tire (caused by a small collision with Alfons Menegus) forced the Montcrabin into a tight 3rd place finish to earn his first podium of the season in San Emmanuel, and bringing him up to 9th spot in the driver's championship table. He repeated the feat in the Jackian Grand Prix, qualifying in 5th and then overtaking Georgia O'Concannon, José Uribe Álvarez and Menegus to finish 3rd once more. In Kivu, he qualified 9th and ended the Grand Prix at an improved 6th to earn 8 points and rise to 7th place in the driver's championship. In the Gjorkan Grand-Prix, Bakere qualified on 7th place ahead of teammate Kotlavchenko and Markusse's Martinovic Antić. The race ended with him in 6th place, ahead of Fabrizju Zolla, to earn 8 points.
Following the summer break, Bakere would earn his third podium of the 2023 season in the Hapatmitas Grand Prix after a crash between Maddox Chance and Zolla in the 50th lap. In Paleocacher, he qualified on P7, putting up a strong performance in the race to end it in 5th. Frenċ qualified a slightly disappointing 8th for the Reykani Grand Prix, attributed to circuit traffic and bad planning from Iżakk. The race was expected to go roughly the same, positioned beside Moffat's Huỳnh Hoàng Ân on the grid. A strong start to the race put him ahead of Hoàng Ân and Uribe Álvarez in the first lap, setting him up to face both of Chienrú's drivers for a place in the podium. Despite attempts from Wu Chang to shield the Montcrabin from Búri Hlíðbergsson, Bakere overtook both into the 21st lap to place fourth. With Menegus ahead, Frenċ cut down on what was originally a 10 second lead for the Renehan driver to pull into second place (ahead of originally pole-positioned O'Concannon, who fell behind to 8th due to a pitstop error by Moffatt). Despite radio orders from Iżakk to defend his position and avoid risks, Bakere made a push to overtake Vitale Scutari, clinching first place late into the last lap to win his first Grand-Prix of the season and rise to 6th in the driver's championship.
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