NEWS

Giltaire and Powell Star in Formula Middle East Dubai Showstopper

Feb 09,2025

Evan Giltaire builds on Formula Regional advantage with third win

Jin Nakamura fends off Freddie Slater for maiden FR success in thriller

Alex Powell gets double victory after battle with Kean Nakamura-Berta

UAE, February 9, 2025: Some truly epic racing royally entertained on the final day of the third round of Formula Middle East at Dubai Autodrome. While Evan Giltaire finished the weekend with his third victory in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship (FRMEC) and an enhanced points lead, the earlier race had featured a stunning struggle for supremacy between the Frenchman’s main title rival Freddie Slater and Jin Nakamura in which the Japanese Toyota protégé narrowly prevailed. If that was exciting, then the weekend climax in the Formula 4 Middle East Championship (F4ME) was sensational, with Alex Powell pipping Kean Nakamura-Berta in a photo-finish to claim his second win of the day.

Giltaire did everything right in the final FRMEC race, the 18-year-old ART Grand Prix driver navigating two safety car periods to keep Saturday winner Ugo Ugochukwu in his mirrors throughout, and build upon the fourth place he had taken earlier in the day. In that preceding race, 19-year-old Nakamura, Ugochukwu’s team-mate at R-ace GP, claimed the maiden victory of his first FR campaign. Incredibly, he became the fourth different R-ace GP driver to win a race this weekend in Formula Middle East.

R-ace GP man Powell had finally reversed his run of ill fortune in the first F4ME race of the day, in which the 17-year-old Jamaican-American Mercedes F1 junior drove away from the field. His epic contest later on with Nakamura-Berta, representing the Prema-run Mumbai Falcons Racing team, could not have been more different. The 17-year-old London-born Japanese-Slovakian had to console himself with yet another podium finish – his eighth of the nine races to date.

In FRMEC, Giltaire has now pulled out a 39-point margin on Slater, with Brando Badoer 51 off the summit in third. In F4ME, a strong day for R-ace GP talent Emanuele Oliveri with a second and a third place keeps the 16-year-old Italian firmly on top of the standings, 55 points clear of Nakamura-Berta, with Powell moving up to third equal with Tomass Štolcermanis but each facing a deficit of 96 points. Slater continues his battle for the FRMEC Rookie title with Rashid Al Dhaheri, with the Emirati four points clear. Meanwhile, a clean sweep of three wins and two poles in Dubai from Colombian Salim Hanna has vaulted him into the F4ME Rookie leadership ahead of Chi Zhenrui. Everything is still to play for as Formula Middle East heads back to Yas Marina Circuit for the penultimate round on February 15-16.

Formula Regional Middle East

Race 2

1st Jin Nakamura/R-ace GP

2nd Freddie Slater/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

3rd Rashid Al Dhaheri/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

Race 3

1st Evan Giltaire/ART Grand Prix

2nd Ugo Ugochukwu/R-ace GP

3rd Theophile Nael/Sainteloc Racing

Formula 4 Middle East
Race 2

1st Alex Powell/R-ace GP

2nd Emanuele Olivieri/R-ace GP

3rd Kean Nakamura-Berta/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

Race 3

1st Alex Powell/R-ace GP

2nd Kean Nakamura-Berta/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

3rd Emanuele Olivieri/R-ace GP

Formula Regional Middle East

Race 2

The protégés of Japan’s two staunchest manufacturer supporters of motorsport lined up on the front row of the reversed grid. But while Toyota starlet Jin Nakamura got away in the lead at the start, Honda hotshot Taito Kato was demoted to third place into Turn 1 by Freddie Slater, who made a terrific getaway from fourth on the grid.

This represented a fantastic opportunity for Slater to recapture the form that took his Mumbai Falcons Racing car to two race wins from the opening round of the series. While Nakamura kept him at arm’s length for the first five laps, Slater then moved in for an attack, and the R-ace GP driver was forced to defend. Slater then dropped back a little, regrouped, nursed his tyres and, with five laps remaining, launched another bid. He dived down the inside at the right-handed Turn 10, but Nakamura was able to cling on by running wide and claiming the inside for the following left at Turn 11. Again Slater drew alongside as they emerged from Turn 16 onto the start-finish straight, and again Nakamura held firm.

Slater’s bids had allowed Rashid Al Dhaheri to close in and, indeed, the Briton then had to defend from the Abu Dhabi racer – his team-mate in the Mumbai Falcons stable – in a battle that was also for the Rookie class win. Once he had repelled Al Dhaheri, Slater moved back onto Nakamura’s gearbox and the two flashed across the line separated by just 0.429 seconds at the finish of a superb race.

Al Dhaheri had pulled off an excellent manoeuvre on Enzo Deligny on his climb up the field. Théophile Naël followed suit a few laps later, and he and Al Dhaheri made it a close leading quartet at the finish, with the Emirati claiming the final spot on the podium from the Saintéloc Racing man. Naël, however, was penalised five seconds after the race for an incident in the early stages with Kanato Le, dropping him to seventh in the results. Championship leader Evan Giltaire had a stealthy race through to fifth on the road – fourth in the final classification – but had to be on his guard in the late stages, because Ugo Ugochukwu, the winner on Saturday, was right on his tail at the finish.

Another man on the move was Indo-American Akshay Bohra, the R-ace GP contender fighting through to a final result of sixth to complete the Rookie podium. Behind the penalised Naël, fellow Frenchman Deligny took eighth in his R-ace GP car. Brando Badoer lost positions during the course of the race but the Italian PHM Racing ace recovered late on to snatch ninth position from ART Grand Prix-run Japanese Le on the final lap. Behind them, Australian Jack Beeton (Mumbai Falcons Racing) finished 11th as Kato faded to 12th in his ART Grand Prix machine.

Race 3

Evan Giltaire claimed his second pole position of the weekend for the finale, but it was not to be the next fastest qualifier, Rashid Al Dhaheri, alongside him on the front row. Al Dhaheri was given a one-place grid penalty for impeding Aaron Cameron, so that elevated Ugo Ugochukwu onto the front row.

Giltaire had to hold his nerve at the start when he ran three-abreast with Ugochukwu and Théophile Naël, but he swooped around the outside at Turn 1 to take the advantage. The race had hardly got going when the safety car emerged. A four-car incident at Turn 6 delayed Akshay Bohra, sent Cameron and Jack Beeton to the pits (albeit Beeton continued after swift repairs), and left Kanato Le stranded just off track with deranged right-rear suspension.

At the restart, Giltaire moved away in front ahead of Ugochukwu and Naël, only for another safety car appearance to eat into much of the remaining time available in the race. This was a big clear-up job for the hard-working marshals, after Finley Green had spun at Turn 7, leaving Doriane Pin and Jakob Bergmeister with nowhere to go as they collected the stricken Briton’s car.

By the time the green flags flew, there was time for just two more laps of racing. Giltaire reeled them off to beat Ugochukwu and Naël, and extend his championship lead, with Enzo Deligny taking a strong fourth. But next up there was a ferocious fight for fifth.

Brando Badoer held the position at the restart, but was passed by Al Dhaheri at Turn 10. Meanwhile, Freddie Slater had sailed around the outside of Hiyu Yamakoshi for seventh at Turn 1, and now he pulled off a superb cutback manoeuvre on Badoer at Turn 12. Badoer would not give up, and lunged down the inside of Slater at Turn 1 on the final lap, only for Slater to grab the position back before the finish line. That allowed Al Dhaheri breathing space in fifth, followed by Slater, Badoer and Pinnacle Motorsport’s impressive Japanese debutant Hiyu Yamakoshi, who also completed the Rookie podium behind Al Dhaheri and Slater.

Mexican Red Bull Junior Ernesto Rivera (Pinnacle Motorsport) was ninth ahead of another frenetic fight from which Taito Kato pipped China’s Liu Ruiqi (Origine Motorsport) and Jin Nakamura to 10th, with Briton James Hedley dropping out of the points on the final lap on his series debut with AKCEL GP/PHM Racing.

Formula 4 Middle East

Race 2

Alex Powell had reason to be thankful for the red flag that truncated the opening race. He had sustained a puncture and slipped outside the top 10 just as the flag was flown, but the rule that results have to be based upon the last completed lap gave him ninth position – and a front-row start on the reversed grid for race two. On pole was Fu Yuhao with his own point to prove, and the Chinese driver hung on in front, refusing to bow to the pressure, for one and a half laps. Then Powell swept around the outside of the XCEL Motorsport car at Turn 10 to move into the lead.

Immediately after this the safety car was called because Yuta Suzuki had spun at Turn 16, and come to rest just next to the kerb on the track edge. After the Japanese driver’s car had been retrieved, Powell aced the restart and began to build an advantage. Once again, Fu did a good job to hang onto his position for a lap and a half, before Tomass Štolcermanis grabbed second place at Turn 10. One lap later, it was Emanuele Olivieri passing Fu, this time for third position at the same place. The next time around, both Kean Nakamura-Berta and Salim Hanna got ahead of Fu.

Now all eyes were on the fight for second. While Powell extended his lead on every lap, Olivieri homed in on the Mumbai Falcons car of Štolcermanis. With four laps remaining, the championship leader was right behind, but the Latvian somehow clung on, despite numerous attempts from Olivieri to pass. It all boiled down to the final lap. Olivieri’s bid on the outside pinched Štolcermanis onto the inside line at Turn 1, and left him vulnerable on corner exit. Olivieri took advantage to spear to the inside at Turn 3. Now Nakamura-Berta was all over his Mumbai Falcons team-mate, and pulled off a late-braking move to snatch third place from Štolcermanis at Turn 10. Mumbai Falcons’ Rookie class winner Salim Hanna, in turn, was just behind in fifth. Up front, Powell won by almost seven seconds.

Oleksandr Savinkov (R-ace GP) made good progress, helped slightly by a coming-together between Prema Racing team-mates Oleksandr Bondarev and Chi Zhenrui that sent both to the pits with damage, to take sixth, while Fu held off the Yas Heat Racing Academy car of Dubai’s Adam Al Azhari for seventh. American Sebastian Wheldon (Prema Racing) made superb progress from 26th on the grid, the son of the late IndyCar legend Dan Wheldon claiming ninth.

Bader Al Sulaiti appeared to have got the best of a big midfield battle to finish 10th ahead of August Raber and Taha Hassiba. There were no points for Al Sulaiti, however, since he was one of the drivers given a 10-second penalty for a jumped start. This elevated Swedish-Emirati Raber (Yas Heat Racing Academy) to 10th, with Qatari Hassiba (QMMF) and Briton Emily Cotty (R-ace GP) 11th and 12th respectively. It also cost Al Sulaiti second in the Rookie class, with the category win going to Salim Hanna. After his big accident on Saturday, Wang Yuzhe was given dispensation to start with a spare Pinnacle Motorsport car and finished 20th.

Race 3

Things looked good for R-ace GP before the final F4 race of the weekend, with Alex Powell leading a lockout of the front row from Emanuele Olivieri. But the championship leader could not prevent Kean Nakamura-Berta from sweeping around his outside at Turn 1 to snatch second place on the opening lap.

Powell kept his distance from Nakamura-Berta at the front for the opening few laps, before it became apparent that his pursuer seemed to be biding his time. By two-thirds distance the leading duo were together, and Nakamura-Berta attempted an audacious dive into Turn 1. Powell moved across to leave just enough room for Nakamura-Berta on the inside line, the car squirming for adhesion. They then ran side by side through Turn 2 before Nakamura-Berta claimed the inside line for Turn 3 and the race lead.

Nakamura-Berta had eked his advantage out to just over a second as they started the final lap but, unbeknown to onlookers, he had an intermittent engine issue. This glitch manifested itself at the long Turn 9 onto the back straight, and Powell had the momentum to repass and move back into the lead. Nakamura-Berta tried to regain the lead with a dive at Turn 10, but pulled it off with a sensational outside move at Turn 12. The issue struck Nakamura-Berta again at Turn 14, Powell driving around his outside at Turn 15. Side by side they ran through the final Turn 16, Powell running off the track on the outside and gaining sufficient momentum to pip Nakamura-Berta to the chequered flag by the minuscule margin of 0.057 seconds in a showstopping finish.

It was close for third too. Olivieri consolidated the position while Reno Francot dropped briefly behind Tomass Štolcermanis during the early stages. The AKCEL GP/PHM Racing-run Dutchman moved back ahead on lap five, but it wasn’t until late on that he slashed the gap to Olivieri, who just held on for another podium finish.

Rookie class winner Salim Hanna moved up to fifth when he also got past Štolcermanis, only for the Colombian to be penalised one position after the race for forcing the Latvian wide during the manoeuvre. Štolcermanis spent much of the second half of the race being shadowed by Sebastian Wheldon, who ended up seventh. Oleksandr Bondarev was passed by Wheldon at half-distance, and Prema’s Ukrainian Williams F1 protégé finished a solid eighth, as well as second in the Rookie class, with a comfortable gap to a truly frenetic fight for the final points-scoring positions. In the end, Macanese Tiago Rodrigues (Evans GP) passed Adam Al Azhari on the last lap for ninth, with Indian Arjun Chheda (Mumbai Falcons Racing) and Chinese driver Chi Zhenrui (Prema Racing) close at hand behind. Chi also finished as third Rookie.