We’re only 19 days into the year, but Formula Regional Oceania has already reached its halfway point as FR Middle East and UAE4 held their first races of their new eras. Feeder Series reviews the action from Taupō and Yas Marina.

By Feeder Series

It was a landmark weekend for the FIA’s Formula Regional category, which heads into its new era this year with brand-new machinery in several of its series. The second-generation Tatuus chassis, the T-326, made its competitive debut at the FR Middle East Trophy’s season opener at Yas Marina, and the returning MP Motorsport squad shone with two of three victories.

As part of the same Formula Middle East package, the UAE4 Series also held its first round under its current name with a bumper 38-car grid bringing plenty of action – and chaos.

Half as many drivers participated in FR Oceania’s second round at Taupo International Motorsport Park. The usual suspects continued to perform well, but there were two surprise names at the front for Sunday’s feature race, both on the grid and at the finish line. Keep reading to find out who won the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy and everything else transpired this weekend.

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1. FRegional Oceania: Wood and Wharton take first wins as Ugochukwu maintains points lead
2. FRegional Middle East: Al Dhaheri shines on home soil as Abkhazava, Ho take maiden wins
3. UAE4: Bondarev takes early lead from Consani in crash-filled opener

FRegional Oceania: Wood and Wharton take first wins as Ugochukwu maintains points lead

M2 Competition’s Ugo Ugochukwu maintained his FR Oceania points lead this weekend in Taupō as Mtec Motorsport’s Ryan Wood and TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports’ James Wharton scored their first wins in the series. 

In qualifying one, Wood narrowly took pole with a 1:23.258, only 0.013s faster than Ugochukwu. Zack Scoular, who scored his maiden single-seater win in Taupō last year, was third. 

In the first race, both Wood and Ugochukwu got good launches, with Wood edging ahead into the first corner. The New Zealander maintained his lead until the end, securing his first FR Oceania and single-seater victory. 

Behind him, a three-way battle for second developed between Ugochukwu, Scoular and Freddie Slater. On lap eight, Scoular locked up into Turn 13, opening the door for Slater to overtake him for third and Ugochukwu to get away. Scoular then faced pressure from teammate Louis Sharp, who passed him on the back straight on the penultimate lap to take fourth. 

Le finished eighth, thereby earning pole for the second race. He led Ernesto Rivera heading into the first corner, but James Wharton, who started third, overtook Rivera at Turn 2. Wharton put the pressure on Le for the lead and finally overtook him down the back straight on the seventh lap. 

Le, losing pace, then fell into the clutches of Rivera, who overtook him for second on lap 10 as Le locked up at Turn 11. The Japanese driver tried to retake the place down the straight, but Rivera held firm. Behind them, Slater and Jin Nakamura collided and went off at Turn 12, with the latter immediately pitting to replace his broken front wing.

On lap 12, Ugochukwu also overtook Le to take third. Struggling on the notoriously abrasive circuit, Le locked up at the final corner complex on lap 14, allowing Slater, Sharp and Wood through. 

Wharton crossed the chequered flag 3.587s ahead of Rivera, with Ugochukwu right on the Mexican’s tail in third. 

Wet weather affected qualifying two on Sunday, and times tumbled as the track dried. The last car to cross the line was Jack Taylor, who took pole for race four with a 1:31.340. Race one winner Wood was second, 0.274s behind Taylor, while Yevan David was third. 

But first, Scoular had pole for race three, with Slater alongside him. The New Zealander led into Turn 1 and never looked back, winning with a 8.454s margin as Slater and Wood completed the podium. 

On lap five, Rivera and Le made contact at Turn 1 as Le attempted an overtake around the outside for sixth. Nakamura took advantage and overtook Rivera for sixth, while David, Yuanpu Cui, Sebastian Manson and Fionn McLaughlin all passed Le after the collision. Rivera received a five-second penalty for not giving Le enough racing room. 

Two laps later, McLaughlin spun Manson at Turn 1 on lap seven, earning a 30-second time penalty for causing the collision. Nevertheless, he made his way past David and Rivera to seventh, with Le and Cui also overtaking Rivera for eighth at Turn 13 on lap 16. Cui retired on the final lap with damage to his left-rear suspension.

Taylor started on pole for the feature race but lost two positions in as many corners as Wood and Le overtook him. Sharp then passed Taylor on the back straight for third. 

Slater held fifth for the first six laps, but on lap seven, Ugochukwu – who had started 11th – overtook him on the back straight. Slater then went wide heading into Turn 11 on the ninth lap, dropping to 14th, and made a similar mistake three laps later to fall to last.

Moments later, Scoular made contact with Rivera entering the final chicane as they battled for ninth. Scoular sustained suspension damage and stopped in the gravel, bringing out the safety car. 

Wood nailed the restart on lap 17 to lead Le into the first corner. While Ugochukwu attacked Taylor for fourth on lap 18, Nakamura capitalised on the battle and overtook Ugochukwu at Turn 5. The next lap, Nakamura ran deep at the penultimate corner trying to overtake Taylor, and Ugochukwu retook fifth.

Ugochukwu finally overtook Taylor at the end of lap 21, finishing fourth behind race winner Wood, second-placed Le and third-placed Sharp.

The American still leads the championship with 194 points heading into Teretonga, ahead of Le  with 161, Sharp with 159, Nakamura with 153 and Wood – the only rookie in the overall top 10 – with 150.

Report by Kaylene Lau

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Ryan Wood, 1:23.258	Ugo Ugochukwu, +0.013s	Zack Scoular, +0.051s
Race 1 (18 laps)	Ryan Wood, 25:25.001	Ugo Ugochukwu, +2.529s	Freddie Slater, +5.638s
Race 2 (18 laps)	James Wharton, 25:31.190	Ernesto Rivera, +3.587s	Ugo Ugochukwu, +3.719s
Qualifying 2	Jack Taylor, 1:31.340	Ryan Wood, +0.274s	Yevan David, +0.489s
Race 3 (18 laps)	Zack Scoular, 25:10.289	Freddie Slater, +8.454s	Ryan Wood, +9.602s
Race 4 (23 laps)	Ryan Wood, 35:55.008	Kanato Le, +1.595s	Louis Sharp, +1.996s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Ugo Ugochukwu, 194	M2 Competition, 375	Ryan Wood, 150
P2	Kanato Le, 161	Mtec Motorsport, 370	Fionn McLaughlin, 53
P3	Louis Sharp, 159	Hitech, 325	Kalle Rovanperä, 50
P4	Jin Nakamura, 153	TJ Speed with HMD Motorsports, 165	Jack Taylor, 47
P5	Ryan Wood, 150	Giles Motorsport, 133	Cooper Shipman, 44
P6	Freddie Slater, 144	Kiwi Motorsport, 122	Cadi Baptista, 42
P7	Zack Scoular, 120		Trevor LaTourrette, 30
P8	Ernesto Rivera, 118
P9	James Wharton, 113
P10	Nolan Allaer, 86

Read the previous round’s report here.

FRegional Middle East: Al Dhaheri shines on home soil as Abkhazava, Ho take maiden wins

The 2026 FRegional Middle East Trophy got underway in Abu Dhabi, and the Emirati fans saw one of their own come away with the championship lead. Rashid Al Dhaheri heads the standings with 53 points thanks to three top-five finishes, including victory in race three.

The first qualifying session for the new car was as close as it could have been. Alexander Abkhazava took pole with a 1:48.713, just 0.001 seconds faster than Al Dhaheri’s time. The Emirati driver took pole in qualifying two, however, with a 1:48.148, defeating Alex Ninovic by 0.109s.

In race one, Abkhazava retained the lead on the opening lap, though the MP Motorsport driver had to defend from Al Dhaheri’s attacks in the early stages. He led the interruption-free race until the very end, with Al Dhaheri keeping him honest throughout and crossing the line just 0.443s behind. Third was Maksimilian Popov, the highest-placed rookie, who clinched a podium finish on his FR debut.

The revers- grid order of the top 12 finishers put Andrija Kostić and Reza Seewooruthun on the front row of the grid for race two. The latter, however, stalled on the grid at the start, and Michael Belov was unable to avoid his stranded car, clattering into him at full speed. The red flag was brought out to allow retrieval of the two cars, which took no further part in the event.

Kostić kept the lead at the restart, but it wasn’t to be. He was handed a drive-through penalty for retaking his starting position after the first safety car line following a spin at Turn 8 on the formation lap. He served the penalty at the end of a safety car period for a collision between Kean Nakamura-Berta and Alex Powell.

Miguel Costa thus inherited the lead, but he was overtaken by Christian Ho just after the restart at Turn 9. The Singaporean never looked back, eventually taking the win with Costa 1.451s behind.

Taito Kato fought Costa for second after the restart, but he hit the kerb exiting Turn 9 on lap seven, went airborne and hit the barriers. Behind him was GB3 champion Alex Ninovic, who ultimately finished third to give Rodin Motorsport their first podium in an FR series.

Al Dhaheri then transformed pole into his first win of the season in race three with a commanding drive. At the start, Ninovic stalled from second, with Powell taking his place and Ho rising to third after overtaking Popov. There was a brief safety car intervention on lap four after August Raber crashed, but the top three stayed as they were at the restart, though Ho had to defend hard against Nakamura-Berta. 

The race was then stopped with 11 minutes remaining after Giovanni Maschio crashed on the pit straight. The restart proceeded without incident, and Al Dhaheri broke free from Powell and Ho to win and snatch the championship lead. Ho sits in second on 44 points –- nine fewer than the Emirati driver has – while Abkhazava, who finished 17th in race three, is third on 33 points.

Popov leads the rookie standings on 52 points, with Powell on 40 and Costa on 35 hot on his tail heading into next weekend’s round on Yas Marina’s Corkscrew layout.

Report by Daniele Spadi

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Alexander Abkhazava, 1:48.713	Rashid Al Dhaheri, +0.001s	Maksimilian Popov, +0.019s
Qualifying 2	Rashid Al Dhaheri, 1:48.148	Alex Ninovic, +0.109s	Kean Nakamura-Berta, +0.110s
Race 1 (17 laps)	Alexander Abkhazava, 30:59.833	Rashid Al Dhaheri, +0.443s	Maksimilian Popov, +2.975s
Race 2 (12 laps)	Christian Ho, 28:12.075	Miguel Costa, +1.451s	Alex Ninovic, +2.894s
Race 3 (13 laps)	Rashid Al Dhaheri, 30:03.654	Alex Powell, +1.365s	Christian Ho, +2.461s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Rashid Al Dhaheri, 53	MP Motorsport, 77	Maksimilian Popov, 52
P2	Christian Ho, 44	R-ace GP, 54	Alex Powell, 40
P3	Alexander Abkhazava, 33	Trident, 31	Miguel Costa, 35
P4	Maksimilian Popov, 27	Pinnacle Motorsport, 26	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 33
P5	Alex Powell, 26	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited, 22	Kabir Anurag, 28
P6	Kean Nakamura-Berta, 22	ART Grand Prix, 22	Artem Severiukhin, 22
P7	Alex Ninovic, 21	Rodin Motorsport, 21	Salim Hanna, 20
P8	Miguel Costa, 19	RPM, 19	Andrija Kostić, 18
P9	Kabir Anurag, 12	CL Motorsport, 8	Andrea Dupé, 13
P10	Salim Hanna, 12	Van Amersfoort Racing, 6	Maxim Rehm, 12

UAE4: Bondarev takes early lead from Consani in crash-filled opener

Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited’s Oleksandr Bondarev left the first round of UAE4 as championship leader with 51 points – 2 ahead of Andy Consani and 22 ahead of Kenzo Craigie in third.  

Bondarev and Consani established themselves as frontrunners right away, finishing first and second in the weekend’s sole practice session. Bondarev topped qualifying one with a 1:55.565, while Consani took pole in qualifying two with a 1:55.674. They each finished third in the other session.

Hitech’s Scott Kin Lindblom was disqualified from his fourth and fifth positions in qualifying after his car’s step plane was found to be noncompliant.

In race one, Bondarev maintained position ahead of David Cosma Cristofor and Consani at the start. Further back, Charbel Abi Gebrayel hit the wall at Turn 8, bringing out the safety car on the second lap.

The race restarted on lap four, with Bondarev continuing to lead. Consani passed Cosma Cristofor for second at the final chicane on lap six – ultimately deciding the podium positions. 

R-ace GP’s Elia Weiss and Craigie battled throughout. Weiss overtook Craigie for seventh at the first corner on lap seven, and Craigie made several attempts over the next four laps before completing the overtake on the F1 start-finish straight on lap 12. Behind them, Costoya battled into the points, passing Emily Cotty for 10th on lap 11 and Kingsley Zheng for ninth on lap 13. 

Niccolò Maccagnani started the reverse-grid race from pole ahead of Cotty and Zheng. They held position at the start as drama unfolded behind.

As Weiss attempted to avoid Costoya into the first corner, he clipped Rowan Campbell-Pilling, causing the British driver to go airborne and take Costoya into the runoff with him. Campbell-Pilling emerged unhurt as Costoya returned to the pits sans rear wing and engine cover. 

After a safety car period, the race restarted on lap three. Craigie overtook Zheng for third a lap later, the final position change among the top three. The next safety car restart came on lap seven, and Consani immediately attacked Alp Aksoy for fifth. Bondarev took advantage, overtaking Consani – and going off track to do so – at Turn 12. 

Another safety car was called on lap nine when Brock Burton stopped at Turn 8, though he was able to restart his car. A final-lap shootout on lap 11 was not to be after a concertina collision at the back of the field left Kaylee Countryman in the wall, bringing out the race-ending red flag. 

The third race was similarly chaotic. Consani got a great start from pole, pulling nearly two seconds on the field in the first lap. Aksoy spun from fifth after being hit by Adam Al Azhari at Turn 16, while Bondarev overtook Weiss for second into the final chicane, setting up a battle for the win between the two early title protagonists. 

On the second lap, Burton spun at Turn 9, causing a safety car. Bondarev attacked Consani after the lap four restart, but the Frenchman held firm, relieved by another safety car on lap eight.

On lap 11, Al Azhari attempted a move on Weiss for third at Turn 12 but overshot, running wide. He then made contact with Cosma Cristofor upon rejoining and picked up a puncture.

There was a third safety car on lap 12, leaving just enough time for a last-lap shootout. Cosma Cristofor overtook Weiss off track at Turn 1 for third, but Weiss fought back – perhaps a bit too hard. The German driver hit the Cosma Cristofor in the final chicane, causing the Prema driver to flip. Campbell-Pilling had to avoid the incident, allowing Costoya through into third.

A red flag was called after more than half the cars had crossed the line, however, and the official results were taken from the penultimate lap. With penalties nonetheless given to Weiss and Cosma, Consani won ahead of Bondarev and Campbell-Pilling, with Costoya and Cotty rounding out the top five.

Lindblom notably recovered from 38th to 14th in the first race and 38th to seventh in the third, though he crossed the line sixth. The Swede and his team challenged the stewards’ decision to take the results from the penultimate lap, with the results of their appeal still pending. 

Report by Calla Kra-Caskey

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying 1	Oleksandr Bondarev, 1:55.565	David Cosma Cristofor, +0.359s	Andy Consani, +0.370s
Qualifying 2	Andy Consani, 1:55.674	Elia Weiss, +0.007s	Oleksandr Bondarev, +0.025s
Race 1 (15 laps)	Oleksandr Bondarev, 31:23.563	Andy Consani, +2.065s	David Cosma Cristofor, +5.842s
Race 2 (10 laps)	Niccolò Maccagnani, 25:52.269	Emily Cotty, +0.373s	Kenzo Craigie, +0.764s
Race 3* (12 laps)	Andy Consani, 27:24.280	Oleksandr Bondarev, +0.451s	Rowan Campbell-Pilling, +1.845s

Standings	Drivers	Teams	Rookies
P1	Oleksandr Bondarev, 51	R-ace GP, 78	Kenzo Craigie, 61
P2	Andy Consani, 49	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited, 71	Alp Aksoy, 40
P3	Kenzo Craigie, 29	Prema Racing, 31	Christian Costoya, 40
P4	Emily Cotty, 28	Pinnacle Motorsport, 23	Iacopo Martinese, 33
P5	Niccolò Maccagnani, 25	Yas Heat Racing, 13	Jaber Al Sabah, 32
P6	Rowan Campbell-Pilling, 23	Hitech, 10	Kingsley Zheng, 30
P7	Alp Aksoy, 20	QMMF by Hitech, 4	Jarrett Clark, 20
P8	David Cosma Cristofor, 17	Evans GP, 1	Florentin Hattemer, 20
P9	Christian Costoya, 14	PHM Racing, 0	Zakaria Doleh, 10
P10	Kingsley Zheng, 13	Xcel Motorsport, 0	Dominik Šimek, 8

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency