18 and 19 January 2025, Abu Dhabi – The F4 Middle East Championship is off to a good start for R-ace GP. After two pole positions on Saturday afternoon on the Yas Marina circuit, the team took victory a few hours later in race 1 with Emanuele Olivieri. The following day, the young Italian followed up with a third place in race 2, before rounding off the weekend in style with a second victory in race 3.
The season had only just begun and the results are already very promising. After topping free practice on Saturday morning, Emanuele Olivieri (#68) secured pole position in the first qualifying session with a time of 1:55.708. Second place was claimed by his team-mate Alex Powell (#41).
The roles were reversed in the second qualifying session, which determined the starting grid for race 3. Alex Powell qualified first with the fastest time of 1:55.241, ahead of Emanuele Olivieri.
Race 1
On Saturday afternoon, Emanuele Olivieri dominated the race from green light to chequered flag. He took his first win of the season. Oleksandr Savinkov (#52) entered the top ten and finished 7th, while Emily Cotty (#42) came in 17th. A mechanical problem caused Alex Powell to drop in the standings, to 27th place. However, the Jamaican driver still posted the fastest lap of the race.
Race 2
The start* was given on Sunday morning. Having started 10th, Emanuele Olivieri climbed up the rankings to finish third in the race. Alex Powell made a fantastic comeback, moving up from 26th to 4th place. He narrowly missed out on the podium. Oleksandr Savinkov finished 8th and Emily Cotty 15th.
Race 3
The final race took place at sunset. Alex Powell missed his start in favour of Emanuele Olivieri, who took the lead. The Italian ended up adding a second win to his weekend tally. Qualifying 23ᵉ, Oleksandr Savinkov signed off with a strong performance to finish 10ᵉ. Alex Powell finished 12ᵉ and Emily Cotty 21ᵉ.
You can follow the races on the championship’s Youtube channel.
The second round will take place in a few days’ time, on 22 and 23 January 2025, again at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
* The starting grid is determined by the classification of race 1, according to the reverse grid principle. This principle applies to the top 10 only. The winner therefore starts from 10th place, and the 10th from pole position.
