The United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy for Formula 4 cars starts today at Dubai Autodrome, and a field of close to 30 cars is expected.
Pre-season testing occurred yesterday, and teams presented their line-ups. Evans GP has signed Ben Nguyen, Hunter Salvatore and Rafael Vaessen, but did not have Nguyen on track, and Hitech GP turned up with Red Bull junior Scott Lindblom and Theo Palmer ahead of running the pair in British F4 next year.
Xcel Motorsport announced David Cosma Cristofor, British F4 race-winner Rowan Campbell-Pilling, Jaber Al Sabah (who will also race for them in F4 Middle East next year), Formula Regional Japanese Championship regular Zhanbin Jia and Leon Hedfors. Jia and Hedfors were entered under the ‘X GP’ banner for pre-season testing.
Morning pacesetter Niccolo Maccagnani drove for Pinnacle Motorsport, and he will be racing for the team alongside Imran Putera, MSA4 driver Jordan Moodley and the USF2000-experienced Kaylee Countryman.
Yas Heat Academy also has a four-car line-up, with current Saudi Arabian F4 title contender Adam Al Azhari joined by single-seater rookie Zakaria Doleh, Charbel Abi Gebrayel and Edoardo Iacobucci.
Akcel GP left it until after testing to announce it would compete with Yuta Suzuki and Belgian-Emirati karting graduate Arthur de Doncker.
Finally there is Australian outfit AGI Sport, which is going solo with its AU4 champion Noah Killion, and Prema which is running Alp Aksoy Hasan and Beco Bernoldi ahead of each doing a triple F4 programme with the team in 2026.
Testing was split into two sessions, and most drivers set their fastest laps in the morning. Only three improved in the afternoon, while Akcel and Hitech missed the morning action.
Maccagnani was the pace-setter in the morning, a 2m00.972s around Dubai’s full Grand Prix layout putting him 0.286 seconds ahead of Xcel’s Cosma. Aksoy and Al Azhari were the only other drivers within a second of the pace, 0.586s and 0.964s off respectively.
In the predominantly slower afternoon session, a 2m01.881s was enough for Cosma to sit top of the timesheet. He pipped Maccagnani by 0.042s, with Aksoy and Lindblom split by 0.006s in third and fourth but both over 0.45s slower than Cosma. Lindblom’s laptime put him into seventh overall. In this session a second split the top seven.
Following Dubai are rounds at Yas Marina Circuit on December 5-7 and 11-13.
Test results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niccolo Maccagnani | Pinnacle Motorsport | 2m00.972s | 60 | |
| 2 | David Cosma Cristofor | Xcel Motorsport | 2m01.258s | +0.286s | 69 |
| 3 | Alp Aksoy Hasan | Prema | 2m01.558s | +0.586s | 82 |
| 4 | Adam Al Azhari | Yas Heat | 2m01.936s | +0.964s | 44 |
| 5 | Hunter Salvatore | Evans GP | 2m02.152s | +1.180s | 68 |
| 6 | Rowan Campbell-Pilling | Xcel Motorsport | 2m02.163s | +1.191s | 78 |
| 7 | Scott Lindblom | Hitech GP | 2m02.338s | +1.366s | 39 |
| 8 | Sicong Chen | Black Blade Racing | 2m02.437s | +1.465s | 80 |
| 9 | Payton Westcott | Prema | 2m02.703s | +1.731s | 84 |
| 10 | Jaber Al Sabah | Xcel Motorsport | 2m02.711s | +1.739s | 66 |
| 11 | Leon Hedfors | X GP | 2m02.872s | +1.900s | 75 |
| 12 | Felipe Reijs | Xcel Motorsport | 2m02.916s | +1.944s | 71 |
| 13 | Theo Palmer | Hitech GP | 2m03.004s | +2.032s | 41 |
| 14 | Beco Bernoldi | Prema | 2m03.285s | +2.313s | 75 |
| 15 | Rafael Vaessen | Evans GP | 2m03.335s | +2.363s | 62 |
| 16 | Zakaria Doleh | Yas Heat | 2m03.362s | +2.390s | 92 |
| 17 | Zhanbin Jia | X GP | 2m03.366s | +2.394s | 76 |
| 18 | Charbel Abi Gebrayel | Yas Heat | 2m03.512s | +2.540s | 72 |
| 19 | Noah Killion | AGI Sport | 2m03.564s | +2.592s | 57 |
| 20 | Imran Putera | Pinnacle Motorsport | 2m03.700s | +2.728s | 32 |
| 21 | Edoardo Iacobucci | Yas Heat | 2m04.191s | +3.219s | 81 |
| 22 | Yuta Suzuki | Akcel GP | 2m04.240s | +3.268s | 26 |
| 23 | Arthur de Doncker | Akcel GP | 2m04.495s | +3.523s | 27 |
| 24 | Jordan Moodley | Pinnacle Motorsport | 2m05.082s | +4.110s | 76 |