Formula 4 UAE Flow 2020 FI
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FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH CONTENTS Introduction 05 History of F4UAE 06 Structure of the Championship 10 Eligibility 12 Trophies & Awards 13 Events 14 The Car 16 Weekend Support 22 Media Coverage 23 Team Information 24 Driver Information 26 Contact Details 28 Championship Partners 29 2 3 FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH INTRODUCTION Following three successful seasons promoting the F4UAE Championship powered by Abarth, AUH Motorsports is pleased to announce its return as the promoter of the championship as it heads into a fourth season which will begin in January 2020. The 2020 F4UAE Championship will broadly follow the format of previous years with principal championship features including: • Season will run from early January to early March 2020 • 5 point-scoring rounds comprising of 4 races each round • Round 1 is a support event to the Dubai 24 Hours • All drivers may complete a full point-scoring season of F4UAE in 2020 and retain their Rookie status for the European 2020 summer championships • 2 back-to-back race weekends plus 1 standalone weekend • Three events will be held at the Dubai Autodrome and two at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi a competitive yet friendly and supportive environment. An An additional non-championship Trophy Round will be held average of 35-40 hours of track time was offered in 2018 as a support to the Abu Dhabi Formula 1® Grand Prix in and 2019, and the 2020 season will be similar. November 2019. The circuits have relatively wide run off areas and the The F4UAE Championship is open to all drivers aged 15 absence of gravel traps which means that safety car years or older and is intended as a first step from karting interruptions are kept to a minimum. into the world of formula car circuit racing. To date, the F4UAE Championship has proven to be a With slightly smaller grids than found in some other successful platform for drivers to take their first steps in championships, yet with more track time, drivers are able Formula 4 competition, which is witnessed by the successes to gain valuable seat time and develop their racing skills in gained in Europe by drivers following their start in F4UAE. 4 5 FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH Once the F4UAE season was complete, eight of the category’s drivers went on to make a name for themselves in European F4 championships during the 2017 summer. Inaugural F4UAE champion Jonathan Aberdein finished HISTORY OF F4UAE ninth outright in ADAC Formel 4, along with Fabio Scherer who finished ahead in fifth. Inaugural F4UAE Rookie of the Year, Logan Sargeant, finished third in British F4. However, it was Australian Oscar Piastri (#88) who impressed the most, finishing the highest In 2016, the F4UAE Championship powered by Abarth became the first official of any former F4UAE driver headed overseas by coming second outright in the British F4 championship. FIA-certified, open-wheeler category to be introduced in the Middle East. Helping rookie drivers gain experience to be successful in the competitive European market, F4UAE has become the championship of choice for winter racing. 2016/2017 SEASON The inaugural season of the F4UAE Championship began The QMMF F4 Team’s Ahmad Al Muhannadi (#22) from in October 2016, and over the course of five championship Qatar won the Best Performing GCC Driver while also rounds and one trophy event, saw 16 drivers ascend on the finishing an impressive fourth place outright on points. United Arab Emirates and its two key racing circuits, the Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Five different drivers won races during 2016/2017 including Aberdein, Sargeant, Babington, Sebastián Wahbeh (#7), South African Jonathan Aberdein claimed the inaugural Fabio Scherer (#13) and Leonard Hoogenboom (#27). 2016/2017 WINNERS F4UAE Championship title for Team Motopark, after amassing 14 race wins, two other podium finishes, plus being fastest in all five official qualifying sessions. Coming Drivers Champion: Jonathan Aberdein, Team Motopark from a rookie F4 season in Germany, Aberdein (#21) was Rookie Champion: Logan Sargeant, Team Motopark the standout driver of F4UAE and lead the championship Second place: Logan Sargeant, Team Motopark points from the get-go, but not without strong competition Third Place: Sean Babington, Energy Dubai F4 Racing Team from teammate Logan Sargeant (#23). Teams Champions: Team Motopark Sargeant finished second outright with 15 race podiums, GCC Nations Cup Champions: QMMF (Qatar ASN) took home Rookie Champion honours, and also helped Team Best Performing GCC Driver: Ahmad Al Muhannadi, QMMF Motopark seal the Teams Champions title for 2016/2017. F4 Team Dubai-based Sean Babington (#4) from Energy Dubai F4 Racing Team took third-place honours in the title fight and Sportsmanship Award: Sean Babington, Energy Dubai F4 was the highest-finishing local driver during the season. Racing Team 6 7 FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH finished second in the rookie fight in ADAC Formel 4 during Four different race winners emerged from the opening the European summer) lead the championship from the first weekend including Nannini, Joshua Dürksen (#27), Shihab race. Over 23 races contested, Weerts won a total of eight Al Habsi (#3), and Lucas Roy (#8). Tijmen van der Helm races, with 17 podium appearances, and was fastest in (#13) was the only other different winner, at Round 3. qualifying twice out of six rounds. Nannini won the Drivers Championship with seven race His biggest rival was German racer David Schumacher wins and three pole positions, and also won the Rookie (#27), whose impressive racecraft -- despite being a rookie Championship for Xcel Motorsport. The team went on to -- helped take the championship battle to the final round win triple honours with the Teams Champions title; their best at the Dubai Autodrome. Schumacher, who only joined at effort in F4UAE competition since joining in 2016. 2018/2019 SEASON Round 2, won a total of three races and scored 16 podium finishes out of 19 starts, eventually finishing 22 points In an effort to give all rookie drivers the chance to retain Nannini’s title rival was Paraguyan Dürksen who won five behind Weerts in the drivers championship. Schumacher such status in 2019 European championships, the third races for BWT Mücke Motorsport, while Xcel Motorsport’s also took home the F4UAE Rookie Champion title. season of the F4UAE Championship condensed its season Al Habsi from Oman finished third outright. into just two short months between January and March Twenty-one different drivers from 12 countries competed in 2019; where racing in the same calendar year enables A consistant field of 13 drivers from 10 countries competed the 2017/2018 F4UAE Championship, with nine of them rookie classification to continue in Europe. regularly in the 2018/2019 F4UAE Chamionship. After 2017/2018 SEASON winning races. These included Waeerts, Schumacher, Lucas three seasons, 51 drivers have now competed in the F4UAE Peterson (#22), Olli Caldwell (#64), Tom Beckhäuser (#95), Twenty races were scheduled across five rounds, with the Championship to date. In 2017/2018, the F4UAE Championship came of age, Leon Köhler (#77), Caio Collet (#23), Amaury Cordeel season beginning as a support to the renowned Hankook with more experienced European teams setting up base in (#888) and William Alatalo (#6). 24 Hours of Dubai; the first time this has occurred. the UAE, and with more race-winning potential than before. Returning teams included reigning champions Dragon The calendar expanded to 24 races across six rounds, Racing, fellow local team Xcel Motorsport (formerly Energy and longer 30-minute races. With increased testing and Dubai), plus the regular international teams BWT Mücke practice opportunities, a total of 35 hours of official track Motorsport and CRAM Motorsport. time was on the offer for the category’s second season between December 2017 and March 2018. With Dragon Racing having taken the Drivers and Teams titles in 2017/2018, Xcel Motorsport pulled no stops in Team Motopark joined forces with local operation Dragon increasing the competition, and lead the season from the F4 to create the front-running team Dragon Motopark F4, first race. Fifteen-year-old front-runner Matteo Nanini (#15) while other international teams joined including BWT 2017/2018 WINNERS from Italy lead the points from the beginning and won the Mücke Motorsport, US Racing (partnering with Rasgaira first race of the season in Dubai. Motorsports), DR Formula Racing and CRAM Motorsport. Drivers Champion: Charles Weerts, Dragon Motopark F4 Rookie Champion: David Schumacher, US Racing/ 2018/2019 WINNERS The local contingent saw an even stronger Energy Dubai Rasgaira Motorsports team return with commercial backing from SILBERPFEIL Second Place: David Schumacher, US Racing/Rasgaira Energy, plus GDL Racing and Dream Racing made Motorsports Drivers Champion: Matteo Nannini, Xcel Motorsport appearances; the latter entering the category’s first female Third Place: Tom Beckhäuser, US Racing/Rasgaira Rookie Champion: Matteo Nannini, Xcel Motorsport racer, 16-year-old Logan Hannah who contested Round 1. Motorsports Second Place: Joshüa Durksen, BWT Mücke Motorsport Teams Champions: Dragon Motopark F4 Third Place: Shihab Al Habsi, Xcel Motorsport Belgium racer Charles Weerts (#88), who competed in the Sportsmanship Award: Tom Beckhäuser, US Racing/ Teams Champions: Xcel Motorsport previous F4UAE season with Team Motopark (and who Rasgaira Motorsports Sportsmanship Award: Rashed Ghanem, Dragon Racing 8 9 FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH FORMULA 4 UAE | CERTIFIED BY THE FIA | POWERED BY ABARTH STRUCTURE OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP The F4UAE Championship is based upon teams entering cars and drivers into the competition.