As many racing fans gear up for the 24 Hours of Daytona, three stalwarts of the wintertime open-wheel racing scene continue their seasons this weekend. Feeder Series gets you up to speed with the action – and the unorthodox schedule. 

By Feeder Series

This weekend’s preview comes to you early courtesy of Formula Regional Middle East and F4 Middle East’s mid-week round at the Yas Marina Circuit.

The two TopSpeed-run series kicked off with testing Tuesday afternoon and will hold their remaining sessions Wednesday and Thursday.

Once they conclude their track activity, FR Oceania will take over the spotlight with three races at the Manfeild Autocourse, the last of which will determine the winner of the Dan Higgins Trophy.

FRegional Middle East: Round 2, Yas Marina

Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit Grand Prix Corkscrew, 4.572 km

Timetable: All times local (UTC+4)

Tuesday 21 January

• 15:10–16:10: Test 1
• 17:30–18:30: Test 2

Wednesday 22 January

• 9:40–10:10: Free Practice
• 12:45–13:00: Qualifying 1
• 13:05–13:20: Qualifying 2
• 16:30–17:05: Race 1, 28 minutes + 1 lap

Thursday 23 January

• 19:25–20:00: Race 2, 28 minutes + 1 lap
• 22:50–23:25: Race 3, 28 minutes + 1 lap

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on RaceResults. Both qualifying sessions and all three races will be broadcast on the championship’s official YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Sunny and dry with a breeze all three days.

What to know: FR Middle East returns to the Yas Marina Circuit midweek for the second round of the championship. Instead of the Grand Prix layout used in Round 1, the series will race on the Corkscrew layout, which features 16 turns over 4.572 kilometres. 

A key talking point will be whether Freddie Slater can repeat his dominant performances from the first round in Abu Dhabi. The Briton’s victories in both race one and race three gave him 74 points and helped him build a 26-point gap over Evan Giltaire in second place. 

Round two is also set to mark the final appearances for three drivers in this year’s championship.

Théophile Naël has been confirmed for only the first two rounds of the season. The Frenchman had an excellent first round, finishing second in race two and taking points in the other two races, and sits fourth in the championship standings. His Saintéloc teammate Lorenzo Castillo as well as Reza Seewooruthun of the Mumbai Falcons team will also depart from the series after the round concludes.

The top two in the points were also the top two drivers in the first test session. Pinnacle Motorsport’s Jesse Carrasquedo led the way from Naël in the second session by 0.561 seconds.

Report by Tori Turner

From the press: Enzo Deligny took his first FR podium last weekend with third place in the second race at Yas Marina – a much-needed boost after a lacklustre 2024 season in FR Europe. Speaking to Feeder Series’ Perceval Wolff-Taffus earlier this month, Deligny opened up on the loss of Red Bull Junior Team backing as a consequence and discussed how he plans to bounce back in 2025. Read the interview here.

You can also read the full report from the previous round here.

F4 Middle East: Round 2, Yas Marina

Circuit: Yas Marina Circuit Grand Prix Corkscrew, 4.572 km

Timetable: All times local (UTC+4)

Tuesday 21 January

• 14:00–15:00: Test 1
• 16:20–17:20: Test 2

Wednesday 22 January

• 9:00–9:30: Free Practice
• 12:00–12:15: Qualifying 1
• 12:20–12:35: Qualifying 2
• 15:20–15:55: Race 1, 28 minutes + 1 lap

Thursday 23 January

• 18:25–19:00: Race 2, 28 minutes + 1 lap
• 21:45–22:20: Race 3, 28 minutes + 1 lap

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on RaceResults. Both qualifying sessions and all three races will be broadcast on the championship’s official YouTube channel.

Weather forecast: Sunny and dry with a breeze all three days.

What to know: F4 Middle East joins FR Middle East in holding an unusual midweek round at Yas Marina as part of a standalone event for the Formula Middle East package.

Emanuele Olivieri leads the standings with 80 points after the first round. The R-ace GP driver took his first two wins in single-seaters in races one and three of the weekend, with fellow first-time winner Tomass Štolcermanis taking the honours in race two.

With three second-place finishes – the last putting him just 0.071s short of victory – 2024 runner-up Kean Nakamura-Berta is second in the standings, 14 points behind Olivieri and 12 ahead of Mumbai Falcons teammate Štolcermanis. Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon, the only other top-three finisher last weekend with his race one podium, rounds out the top four with 38 points.

There is one change on the entry list relative to last round. At Akcel GP by PHM, reigning Indian F4 champion Aqil Alibhai will replace Hamda Al Qubaisi, who retired from the second race and did not start the final race last weekend.

Akcel GP driver David Cosma Cristofor led the first test session – and Tuesday’s running overall – by 0.469 seconds over Olivieri, while two-time rookie polesitter Salim Hanna and Nakamura-Berta set identical fastest laps in the second test session.

Report by Michael McClure

Read the previous round’s report here.

FR Oceania: Round 3, Manfeild 

Circuit details: Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon, 3.030 km 

Schedule: All times local (UTC+13)

Thursday 23 January

• 12:40-13:10: Test 1
• 16:20-16:50: Test 2

Friday 24 January

• 9:35–10:05: Practice 1
• 12:50–13:20: Practice 2
• 15:30–16:00: Practice 3

Saturday 25 January

• 10:30–10:45: Qualifying 1
• 13:55–14:35: Race 1, 22 laps

Sunday 26 January

• 9:00–9:15: Qualifying 2
• 12:25–13:05: Race 2, 22 laps
• 16:05–16:53: Race 3, 27 laps

How to follow: All sessions will have live timing on MyLaps Speedhive. The first qualifying session and the three races will be broadcast on Stuff SpeedHub and Motorsport.tv.

Weather forecast: Dry Thursday. Isolated rain showers possible Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

What to know: The third round of FR Oceania takes place this weekend at Manfeild. 

Sitting at the top of the standings with 164 points after the second round, Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad will be looking to extend his championship lead this weekend. Zack Scoular sits second in the overall standings with 139 points and will be looking to chip away at Lindblad’s lead. As the highest-placed driver from New Zealand or Australia after the first two rounds, Scoular secured the Tasman Cup last weekend at Hampton Downs.

American driver Nikita Johnson rounds out the top three with 116 points. Johnson faces pressure in the fight for third from Josh Pierson, who is only one point behind him in the standings. 

Will Brown, currently fifth in the standings, will be absent from the round at Manfeild as he prepares for the Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race on 2 February. Indy NXT–bound Tommy Smith, formerly of F3, will step in to pilot his Giles Motorsport car for the next two weekends. Last year, Smith finished third in race two at Manfeild, and his entrance into this year’s championship will be keenly watched.

Report by Kaylene Lau

Read the previous round’s report here.

All times and forecasts listed above are subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, follow each series’ websites or social media pages.

Header photo credit: F4 Middle East Championship