Abkhazava and Bondarev triumph in thrilling Dubai Autodrome climax

• Alexander Abkhazava fends off Kean Nakamura-Berta in ultra-close Formula Regional Middle East Trophy finish

• Oleksandr Bondarev defeats car-racing newcomer Kenzo Craigie for another UAE4 Series victory

• Salim Hanna takes maiden Formula Regional win as Christian Costoya claims first UAE4 honours

 

Dubai, February 1, 2026: A thrill-filled morning of action at Dubai Autodrome ended with Alexander Abkhazava and Oleksandr Bondarev wearing the victor’s laurels at the climax of action in the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy (FRME) and UAE4 Series. While Bondarev leads the UAE4 standings going into the final round at Lusail in Qatar, it is Rashid Al Dhaheri on top in the Formula Regional classification - albeit with a much-diminished advantage.

 

Mercedes Formula 1 protégé Al Dhaheri was classified fifth in the first FRME race of the day, run from a top-12 reversed grid. But it did not go to plan for R-ace GP’s 17-year-old Abu Dhabi racer when he appeared to stall on the grid at the start of the finale. Although Al Dhaheri recovered to the midfield, points remained far out of reach.

 

Up front, Abkhazava fought off a tenacious challenge from Kean Nakamura-Berta during which minor contact was made. MP Motorsport’s 19-year Kazakhstani pulled away as Williams F1 junior Nakamura-Berta regrouped. Back came the Prema-run Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited car, but the London-born Japanese-Slovakian was narrowly denied by Abkhazava at the finish. Not far behind at the end, and initially very much part of the lead battle, was R-ace GP’s Formula Regional debutant Emanuele Olivieri. It was a promising showing by the Italian, winner of last year’s F4 UAE title.

 

Mumbai Falcons Racing did get a driver on top of the Formula Regional podium, with 16-year-old Colombian Salim Hanna triumphing in race two. Behind him, Australian Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) and Poland’s Jan Przyrowski (RPM) reprised their battle from the previous round at Yas Marina, this time for second place rather than victory. Once again it was Ninovic who prevailed.

 

Despite retiring from that race, Nakamura-Berta’s second place in the finale puts him just 24 points behind Al Dhaheri going into the final round, with Abkhazava a further six adrift. Maksimilian Popov and Ninovic also remain in outside mathematical contention. Team-mates Hanna and Nakamura-Berta shared the Rookie wins, with the latter holding a healthy points advantage in the class as they head to Qatar.

 

In UAE4, Bondarev found a new rival in the form of Mercedes F1’s latest car-racing talent Kenzo Craigie. Mumbai Falcons Racing’s 16-year-old Ukrainian had to make a fabulous pass on the 15-year-old Briton’s R-ace GP car at the first corner, but Craigie – on only his third race weekend in cars – would not give up and kept Bondarev under pressure throughout. The other of R-ace’s Mercedes juniors, Frenchman Andy Consani, followed them home in third place.

 

Consani had starred earlier on by scorching to second place from 11th on the reversed grid in race two, with Bondarev also on form as he scythed his way from 12th to fourth. In between them at the finish was PHM Racing’s Italian youngster Iacopo Martinese in third, but ahead of them all was Christian Costoya. The 15-year-old Spaniard, like Craigie, was competing in his third weekend of cars, but the McLaren F1 junior belied his inexperience with a classy win for Prema Racing.

 

Bondarev is still feeling the heat from Consani in the points as they head into the final round, the gap just 24 points between them, while Craigie also has an outside shot, albeit 55 adrift. Craigie shared Rookie honours with Costoya, and leads this class before the Qatar finale.

 

The field now has a break next weekend before regrouping at Qatar’s Lusail circuit for the final round on February 12-13.

 

 

Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

 

Race 2

1st Salim Hanna/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

2nd Alex Ninovic/Rodin Motorsport

3rd Jan Przyrowski/RPM

 

Race 3

1st Alexander Abkhazava/MP Motorsport

2nd Kean Nakamura-Berta/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

3rd Emanuele Olivieri/R-ace GP

 

UAE4 Series

 

Race 2

1st Christian Costoya Sanabria/Prema Racing

2nd Andy Consani/R-ace GP

3rd Iacopo Martinese/PHM Racing

 

Race 3

1st Oleksandr Bondarev/Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited

2nd Kenzo Craigie/R-ace GP

3rd Andy Consani/R-ace GP

 

Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

 

Race 2

Alex Powell was in the enviable position of claiming pole position for both FRME races – this one on the reversed grid for finishing 12th in the Saturday encounter. But his momentum was not ideal away from the start. Powell was immediately swamped by Salim Hanna and the fast-starting Alex Ninovic, up from fourth on the grid. Ninovic then tried to go around the outside of Hanna at Turn 2 to take the lead, but had to tuck in behind the Colombian once again. Meanwhile, Powell was down to fourth after Jan Przyrowski went around his outside at Turn 1.

 

Just behind the leading quartet, contact between Newman Chi Zhenrui and Emanuele Olivieri at Turn 2 resulted in Olivieri becoming stranded with deranged rear suspension, while Maksimilian Popov had to run wide around the Italian in avoidance, losing several positions. The safety car was called in order to retrieve the R-ace GP car of Olivieri.

 

On the resumption of the race, things did not improve for Powell, who got onto the kerb at the exit of Turn 12 and was collected by Chi, forcing the Pinnacle Motorsport-run Jamaican-American out of the race. Chi had not only escaped unscathed from his first-lap incident, but also this one, and the CL Motorsport’s Chinese driver was now up to fourth. In his wake was a superb battle between Yuki Sano and points leader Rashid Al Dhaheri. The local racer pulled off a terrific move to take what was now fifth place at Turn 16, but Sano fought back as they passed the pits, only to clip the barrier, forcing his exit from the race - and the finale - with a damaged car. Once again, the safety car emerged.

 

Hanna again executed the restart well, while Ninovic, Przyrowski, Chi and Al Dhaheri all squabbled over the first of six laps of racing that remained. Eventually they settled in that order. Hanna scored a fine maiden Formula Regional win by 1.370 seconds over Ninovic in second, Przyrowski third and Chi fourth. Al Dhaheri, however, could not hang on to fifth place, with the recovering Popov passing him on the 10th lap of 12 to take the position – Popov was also third Rookie home, behind Hanna and Przyrowski. After the race, Chi was penalised five seconds for his incident with Powell, dropping him to sixth, and elevating the Trident car of Popov to fourth and Al Dhaheri to fifth.

 

Kean Nakamura-Berta had also run ahead of Popov before he slowed and headed to the pits, and it was G4 Racing’s French youngster Andrea Dupé who crossed the finish line seventh after passing Alexander Abkhazava around the outside of Turn 11 on lap 10. Francisco Macedo had been in the mix in this battle before he spun at Turn 14 in a bid to repass Dupé, so it was Rodin Motorsport-run German Maxim Rehm who came home ninth, while ART Grand Prix’s Singaporean Alpine F1 protégé Kabir Anurag emerged from a fierce battle with Saturday winner Taito Kato and Enea Frey to claim 10th. Dupé was then hit with a five-second battle for running off track at Turn 7 in order to keep ahead of Rehm as they battled. Abkhazava therefore moved up to seventh in the final classification, with Rehm eighth, Anurag ninth and Dupé down to 10th.

 

 

Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

 

Race 3

The unlucky Alex Powell, who must have so looked forward to his day when he woke up anticipating two pole position starts, could not take up his place on the grid due to the damage incurred in race two. That left Alexander Abkhazava alone on the front row. Kean Nakamura-Berta got a better start and drew alongside on the run to Turn 1, but conceded the corner to the MP Motorsport car. Both then drifted wide, allowing Alex Ninovic, who got a much better exit, to sweep around the outside of Nakamura-Berta at Turn 2 and then claim the inside line for the following Turn 3. Nakamura-Berta fought back and slipstreamed past Ninovic on the back straight to reclaim second place, but this infighting had allowed Abkhazava to extend an advantage of 1.224s by the end of lap one.

 

Ninovic then lost third place on the second lap to a superb move from Emanuele Olivieri. The Italian newcomer went down the inside at Turn 10, clung on around the outside of Turn 11 and then claimed the position at Turn 12. He now set off in chase of Nakamura-Berta, who was still a second adrift of Abkhazava when the safety car appeared on lap five. Towards the tail of the field, Alceu Feldmann Neto was doing battle with Newman Chi Zhenrui when he made contact with the rear of the Chinese driver as they exited Turn 16 onto the start-finish straight. The two cars squirmed across the track and Feldmann Neto made contact with the pit wall, stranding the Brazilian’s car. Chi was given a time penalty for this, after being adjudged to have made his defensive move too late.

 

At the restart, Nakamura-Berta anticipated Abkhazava’s getaway almost too well, because he had to lock up at Turn 16 in a bid to arrest the momentum that could have carried him past into the lead while the race was still technically under safety car conditions. He regrouped and made a bid at Turn 10, then another at Turn 12. Scuff marks on the nose of Nakamura-Berta’s car told the story of how close they had come, and another bid around the outside of Turn 14 was also repelled by Abkhazava. Now Olivieri latched on to make it a three-car train, and one lap later he tried an outside move on Nakamura-Berta at Turn 1, which was successfully resisted.

 

All this had allowed Abkhazava to extend a lead of 1.7s, but Nakamura-Berta, after shrugging off Olivieri, began to bring this gap down. With a lap to go he was within a second, and as they crossed the finish line it was just 0.555s. This was a great Formula Regional race, and one more lap could have changed everything. As it was, Abkhazava took victory, with Nakamura-Berta the Rookie winner and third-placed Olivieri taking runner-up in the Rookie class.

 

Ninovic ran fourth at the restart, but the first time through Turn 16 he was the victim of contact from Dion Gowda that spun him to the tail of the field. Indian racer Gowda thereafter had a lonely run to fourth in his Van Amersfoort Racing car, and was penalised 10 seconds after the race after being adjudged to be to blame for Ninovic’s misfortune, dropping him to 10th in the final results.

 

Ninovic’s moment also delayed Sebastian Wheldon, allowing Jan Przyrowski to repass the American. Mumbai Falcons Racing-run Wheldon fought back but the Polish racer held on for what became fourth place after Gowda’s penalty, and third of the Rookies. Wheldon was also given a penalty – five seconds in his case – for running off track at Turn 15 when passing ART Grand Prix’s Japanese Honda junior Taito Kato, relegating him to ninth. Kato, the victor on Saturday, was next home so he was ultimately classified fifth, ahead of Salim Hanna and G4 Racing-run Frenchman Jules Roussel. Portuguese driver Francisco Macedo (Van Amersfoort Racing) passed Andrea Dupé with three laps remaining on his way to a final position of eighth, ahead of the penalised Wheldon and Gowda.

 

 

 

 

UAE4 Series

 

Race 2

Jarrett Clark started from pole position, but it was Christian Costoya from alongside him on the grid who got the best start to immediately snatch the lead, while Iacopo Martinese sailed around the outside of Clark at Turn 1 to move into second position. But there was drama in the middle-top-10 positions: three-wide into Turn 1 did not work, with Theo Palmer pincered in between Emily Cotty and Alp Aksoy – the resulting contact launched Aksoy off the track and into retirement, and the safety car was scrambled to rescue the stricken Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited machine.

 

After just one lap under caution the field was released again, with Costoya under pressure from Martinese, and Clark attempting to fend off the drivers behind. Attention quickly turned to title contenders Andy Consani and Oleksandr Bondarev. Consani had benefited from the shenanigans at Turn 1 to rise from 10th on the grid to sixth, while Bondarev had lost out and was still in his starting position of 11th when the race resumed. Now each was on the move.

 

Consani got up to fifth when he superbly swept around the outside of Payton Westcott at Turn 15, then he pulled off a terrific late dive on Westcott’s Prema Racing team-mate David Cosma-Cristofor at Turn 10 for fourth. Next time around, he slipstreamed past Clark’s Xcel Motorsport entry on the back straight. Consani was now third. There was a gap to the leading duo, but the race was then red-flagged to rescue Rafael Vaessen following an incident with Jaber Alsabah at Turn 6. Alsabah was held to be to blame for this, and was given a time penalty.

 

There was time for three more laps of racing after the restart, and immediately Consani was on the move. He tried to pass Martinese at the Turns 10/11 complex, before finally making the move stick at Turn 12. It looked as though the Frenchman might tackle Costoya, but the Spanish youngster held firm to claim a fine maiden victory in car racing – and Rookie honours – with Consani second and Martinese third – the Italian was also the second Rookie home.

 

Bondarev was up to sixth at the time of the red flag, but he got past Cosma-Cristofor on the first lap after the restart for fifth. Then he executed a final-lap move on Clark through Turns 10-11-12 to snatch fourth – and more crucial points. Romanian Cosma-Cristofor also got past Clark for fifth, although the sixth-placed Briton did take third in the Rookie class. Kenzo Craigie, winner of Saturday’s race, overtook Westcott just after the restart to claim seventh. The battle for the final points positions lost Ferrari juniors Niccolò Maccagnani and Alba Larsen in an incident at Turn 1 with just under two laps remaining, allowing Dubai’s own Adam Al Azhari (Yas Heat Racing) up to ninth and Hitech-run Swedish Red Bull Junior Scott Kin Lindblom to complete a magnificent charge from 36th on the grid (owing to his startline retirement on Saturday) to 10th.

 

 

UAE4 Series

 

Race 3

Kenzo Craigie had been the qualifying king on Saturday. After taking pole for race one, he dominated the second session, which set the grid for race three. Two of Craigie’s laps were quicker than the best anyone else could manage, and he beat Oleksandr Bondarev to pole by almost half a second.

 

But it was Bondarev who proved the master of racing. Craigie led off the line, before the Williams F1 protégé passed his Mercedes counterpart superbly around the outside of Turn 1 to take the lead. Alp Aksoy had beaten Andy Consani away from the start for third, only for Consani to retrieve that position at Turns 6 and 7, while Aksoy lost another place to David Cosma-Cristofor at Turn 10, dropping to fifth. Then out came the safety car. This time, Zakaria Doleh had mounted the rear of Tamás Gender at Turns 6 and 7, and both were out of the race, with Doleh given a grid penalty for the next race for not exercising enough caution among the pack.

 

Bondarev made the best of the restart, and Craigie looked at risk of being passed by team-mate Consani, who made a bid at Turn 10. But once he had shaken off the sister R-ace GP car, Craigie set to work on reeling in Bondarev. By half-distance he was beginning to look threatening, and on the penultimate lap he feinted a move into Turn 10. But Bondarev made no mistakes, the gap just 0.800 seconds at the finish. Consani spent most of the race unchallenged in third.

 

After his race two performance, Scott Kin Lindblom was the overtaking maestro of Dubai Autodrome on Sunday, and he was on the march again in this one. He was eighth at the restart, but quickly cleared Hitech team-mate Theo Palmer and R-ace GP’s Emily Cotty for sixth. Then, at half-distance, his move on Aksoy at Turn 10 resulted in contact that sent the Turkish talent wide, and Lindblom was now fifth. From here he chased Cosma-Cristofor to the finish, the Romanian hanging on for fourth. Lindblom was later penalised 10 seconds for the incident with Aksoy, relegating him two positions to seventh in the final results.

 

While Aksoy faded, a splendid battle eventually led to Italian Niccolò Maccagnani (Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited) breaking free to take sixth on the road; fifth with Lindblom’s penalty applied. Christian Costoya emerged in what became sixth with a couple of laps to go, and finished second of the Rookies behind Craigie. British-Emirati Palmer got past Aksoy on the final lap for eighth, with ninth-placed Aksoy the third Rookie home. Right with them was Briton Cotty, who claimed 10th and the final point.