Photo: Saudi Arabian F4
Saudi Arabian Formula 4’s second season began last week with a trip abroad to Bahrain.
Pre-season testing was on Friday, and Theo Palmer was fastest by just 0.002 seconds over Kit Belofsky. Adam Al Azhari and Scott Lindblom were 0.125s and 0.142s behind, and a second covered the top 11.
All of the cars, owned by championship promoter AlTawkilat, were operated by Meritus GP in 2024 and are being run by Hitech GP this year.
The season began on Saturday morning with a half-hour practice session, and Chiara Battig set a 2m07.393s to lead Palmer by 0.051s and Nina Gademan by 0.053s. Lindblom was 0.258s off in fourth.
Palmer comfortably returned the top in the day’s 20-minute qualifying session, claiming race one pole by 0.474s over Lindblom. Car racing newcomers Belofsky and Thibaut Ramaekers trailed by 0.635s and 0.699s respectively, with Gademan and Battig the only others within a second of pole.
Battig brought out red flags three minutes in by stopping at turn two. She restarted her car but stopped several more times.
Palmer swept to the inside at the start of race one, almost forcing off Lindblom who still squeezed into the lead at turn one. Belofsky retained third, Adam Al Azhari charged up from ninth to fourth, Faris Organji spun and Rachel Robertson crashed out. Late in the lap, Abdullah Kamel passed Gademan for fifth.
The lead was reclaimed by Palmer on the inside of turn one on lap two, and Belofsky pulled off the same move on lap five.
Palmer weaved down the pit straight the next two laps, and after failing at turn one Belofsky made a move stick on the inside of turn eight. Lindblom followed through after turn nine, and took the lead into turn 11. But he ran wide, and Palmer and Belofsky got back past. Belofsky became the leader again into the final corner.
Lindblom reclaimed second into turn one, then Gademan attacked Palmer at turn four but briefly lost out to Ramaekers.
At the last corner, Palmer passed Lindblom but they had swapped positions again by turn one. Belofsky broke clear, and at turn eight Palmer’s move down the inside broke off Lindblom’s front wing.
The safety car was called as lap 10 of 12 began, with Gademan ahead of Lindblom.
Palmer instantly got alongside Belofsky on the final lap restart, but Belofsky held his ground and won. Ramaekers went off at turn one, Gademan took second through turn six, and Kamel snuck past Lindblom exiting the last corner for fourth.
FP2 was on Sunday morning, and Battig set a 2m06.783s to be quickest. Gademan and Belofsky were 0.124s and 0.177s off her, and Palmer was 0.27s behind.
Al Azhari came to the fore in Q2, going fastest by 0.709s over Palmer. Ramaekers was third, 0.968s back, while Belofsky, Lindblom and Gademan were fifth, seventh and ninth.
Belofsky copped a 10-place grid penalty for speeding under red flag conditions, with Megan Bruce and Robertson each penalised three spots for speeding while yellow flags waved.
Ramaekers had wheelspin off the line in race two and lost out to Ava Dobson and a fast-starting Gademan, while Belofsky stalled.
Gademan and Ramaekers passed Dobson before the safety car was called due to debris. Bruce and Kamel needed new front wings, while Robertson retired when she reached the pits.
Racing resumed on lap three, and Dobson conceded places to Lindblom and Jacob Micallef. She was out of the race by turn five next time by, as Battig drove over her car.
After another safety car returned, racing continued on lap seven of 10. A recovering Belofsky went down the inside of Micallef at the last corner on lap eight for sixth, while Al Azhari gapped himself from Palmer to win.
Results round-up
Race 1 (12 laps)
1 Kit Belofsky TEAM 26m53.992s
2 Nina Gademan +1.506s
3 Theo Palmer +1.724s
4 Abdullak Kamel +3.316s
5 Scott Lindblom +3.352s
6 Thibaut Ramaekers +3.380s
7 Adam Al Azhari +3.650s
8 Chiara Battig +3.791s
9 Jacob Micallef +5.646s
10 Ava Dobson +6.008s
Pole: Palmer, 2m07.063s
Fastest lap: Belofsky, 2m08.552s
Race 2 (10 laps)
1 Al Azhari 26m07.032s
2 Palmer +1.120s
3 Gademan +1.774s
4 Ramaekers +3.409s
5 Lindblom +3.929s
6 Belofsky +5.285s
7 Micallef +6.535s
8 Kamel +11.724s
9 Megan Bruce +12.347s
10 Faris Organji +16.364s
P: Al Azhari, 2m07.006s
FL: Al Azhari, 2m07.478s
Championship standings
1 Belofsky 33 =2 Gademan 33 =2 Palmer 33 4 Al Azhari 31 5 Ramaekers 20 6 Lindblom 20 7 Kamel 16 8 Micallef 8 9 Battig 4 10 Bruce 2