The F4 UAE and Formula Regional middle eastern championships came to an end today at the Dhabi auto drome circuit with a new champion being crowned in both series.

Finlay Mcsporran
Published: 18:34, 18 Feb 2024

In this article we’ll look at final race of both series and how the title was won.

F4 UAE

Going into the final race of the championship there were still 3 drivers who could take the title, those drivers were Keanu Al Azhari (160 pts), Freddie Slater (157 pts) and Kean Nakamura Berta (150 pts). Berta would line up on pole position for the final race of the season, with Slater in 4th and Al Azhari in 11th.

There was drama before the lights even went out when Mercedes junior driver Alex Powell jumped the start and then stalled on the grid as everyone else got going, thankfully managing to avoid him.

Someone who had a good start was Rashid Al Dhaheri, who from second place managed to pass Berta at turn one and take the lead of the race. Behind them Slater was now in 3rd with Al Azhari having dropped down to 12th. If the race finished in that order Slater would be champion as he had enough points to stay ahead of Berta despite being behind him in the actual race.

Al Dhaheri would hold off Berta for the full race despite a red flag and safety car restart, crossing the line in 1st place to win his second race of the season and secure 4th in the championship behind Al Azhari who finished 8th in the race and lost out to his two rivals in the championship.

Slater crossed the line in 3rd place, securing himself enough points to be crowned F4 UAE champion. This achievement will be a great morale boost for him as he prepares for Italian F4 this year with Prema.

Formula Region Middle East

The Formula Regional Middle Eastern championship was dominated by one man, Tuukka Taponen, who had been on the podium in 7/12 races before the final round in Dhabi, giving him a lead of 44 points over Taylor Barnard going into the final round in Dhabi.

He would take pole position for race 1 one Saturday, dominating the race and earning enough points to crown himself Formula Regional middle eastern champion.

But he wasn’t done there, as he won race 3 on Sunday from pole position, rubbing salt into the wounds of Taylor Barnard who for a second year in a row finished as runner up in the championship, being beaten by Kimi Antionelli last year and now Taponen this year.

Despite losing out on the championship however, Barnard might have won out in the long term, having secured himself an F2 seat for 2024 with PHM racing.

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