Frenċ Bakere

Frenċ Bakere

Bakere at the 2022 Montcrabe City Gran Prix
Born	Frenċ Thierry Bakere (1995-10-24) 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.

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

See also: 2016 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2017 season

See also: 2017 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2018 season

See also: 2018 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2019 season

See also: 2019 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2020 season

See also: 2020 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2021 season

See also: 2021 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2022 season

See also: 2022 Gran-Prix One World Championship

TBD

2023 season

See also: 2023 Gran-Prix One World Championship

Frenċ Bakere during the 2023 Rakhman Grand Prix

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.

Following 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 O'Concannon, Álvarez and Menegus to finish 3rd once more.