The Formula 4 UAE Championship will begin with the opening UAE Trophy Round at Yas Marina Circuit during the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023

New season of racing begins in January with a home start for Yas Heat Racing’s new driver line-up, featuring Emirati star Rashid Al Dhaheri following an impressive debut campaign

Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE, XX November 2023: This year’s Formula 4 UAE Championship will soon kick-off and see the future stars compete across a six-week series, starting with the UAE Trophy Round – featuring Yas Heat Racing – at the #AbuDhabiGP weekend at Yas Marina Circuit.

Following an impressive debut season for the team, the opening exhibition event of the season will see a new line-up for the home team at the 15th edition of the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Yas Heat begins the season at Yas Marina Circuit for the Formula 4 UAE Championship

The new F4 UAE season will see a mix of returning stars and new faces for 2024, with Emirati starlet Rashid Al Dhaheri set to make his Yas Heat home debut during the #AbuDhabiGP weekend. Al Dhaheri returns to the UAE after a positive maiden season in the Formula 4 Italian Championship as the youngest driver on the grid. The local driver has secured 8 top-10 finishes across the first 4 weekends of the season in what was a promising year in the European F4 championships.

Young Australian Zack Scoular will also make his single-seater debut for Yas Heat in 2024, after the 15-year-old made a strong start to his racing career with his consistent top-10 performances in the European and MENA ROTAX Max karting championships during 2023. Scoular will join Al Dhaheri as some of the youngest rookies on the grid in the F4 UAE Championship for the 2024 season.

The line-up also inlcudes some familiar faces heading back to Yas Marina Circuit after promising European campaigns. Al Azhari, 15, featured in Yas Heat’s debut season and secured 4 podium finishes in his rookie F4 UAE campaign, and will return to Yas Marina Circuit following his impressive showing in F4 Spain with the aim of improving on his 2023 results.

Following an impressive inaugural season of the F1 Academy in 2023, Emirati racing duo Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi join the Yas Heat side at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The weekend will see Amna Al Qubaisi join the Yas Heat Racing Academy, following years of racing experience at Yas Marina Circuit as part of the Formula 4 UAE series. She returns to Abu Dhabi after a historic first season in the F1 Academy, securing two victories across the seven-round series.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend will also feature a return to the Yas Heat Racing garage for Hamda Al Qubaisi, following her appearance as part of the team’s first ever F4 UAE season earlier this year. Like her older sister, Hamda is set to compete at her home track at Yas Marina Circuit after sensational performances in the F1 Academy series, taking an impressive 4 race wins during the single-seater competition.

Following preseason testing sessions in recent weeks, Matthew Norman, Team Principal of the Yas Heat Racing Academy, believes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend will be the ideal starting point for a promising season ahead.

“We had an admirable first season as a team, filled with incredible moments and a huge level of growth. Now that we’ve acquired the experience of working together, with our drivers being more comfortable and confident of more podium finishes,” he said.

After the opening exhibition round at the F1 season finale from 24th to 26th November 2023, the the region’s top Formula 4 racers get their first preseason laps in from 10th to 11th January 2024 at the iconic Yas Island track, before the first round of the new season takes place across 3 races in Abu Dhabi from 12th to 14th January.

The Yas Marina Circuit track will host three of the competition’s five rounds in 2024, alternating between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The teams will compete at Yas Marina Circuit in the penultimate round from 9th to 11th February before the season wraps up in Dubai on 16th to 18th February.

ENDS

ABOUT ETHARA

Ethara is shaping the future of entertainment, sport, culture, event services, and asset management regionally and internationally. Headquartered on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island, and with offices in Dubai and Riyadh, the company employs over 300 professionals who offer an unrivalled wealth of expertise, experience, knowledge and skills. Ethara, meaning ‘thrill’ in Arabic, operates an impressive portfolio of assets, including Yas Marina Circuit, Etihad Park, Etihad Arena and the Yas Conference Centre. The company works with leading events companies, IP owners, and entertainment partners locally and internationally to deliver world-class, first-to-market events and experiences. For further information, visit: www.ethara.com

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ABOUT YAS HEAT RACING ACADEMY

Yas Heat Racing Academy is the official driver talent development programme located at Yas Marina Circuit, uniting all forms of grassroots motorsport racing – from karting to eSports and onto circuit racing – to provide young drivers with a clear pathway into motorsports, while promoting the development of homegrown talent in the UAE.

Based at Yas Marina Circuit, the home to the Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Yas Heat Racing Academy’s ‘talent first’ and innovation-led philosophy provides its junior drivers with a world-class training environment that will nurture the next generation of local racing stars at the Meeting Place of Champions.