Photo: F4 UAE
Matteo Nannini won the Formula 4 United Arab Emirated champion at Dubai Autodrome, as controversy surrounded the cameoing Niklas Krutten.
Xcel Motorsport team-mate Shihal Al Habsi was the star of the weekend, but having hit his stride too late into the season, it meant Nannini had the title sewn up with two races to go.
Al Habsi’s race one win came under little pressure from Nannini, who finished second ahead of the battling Dragon Racing pair of Rashed Ghanem and Rui Andrade.? Krutten, driving for Mucke Motorsport, was set to finish second but was penalised for abusing track limits.
The German struck back in the second race, dominating from Al Habsi and Durksen. Nannini finished a distant eighth, enough to secure the title.
Nannini started the second day of racing with a close win over Krutten, beating him by 0.228s. A technical infringement, which incurred the same punishment in race four, meant Krutten was disqualified and his team-mate Nico Gohler was promoted to second. Al Habsi finished less than a second behind.
Having already lost the title, Joshua Durksen ended the season on a high with victory in the final race. Once again it came at the cost of Krutten, who had been the winner on the road.
Lucas Roy, who had been sitting third in the standings, was another one to have a nightmare weekend and the final race marked his only podium with second place. It wasn’t enough to hold his place in the standings, dropping to fourth behind Al Habsi.
Czech karter Roman Stanek, a member of the Sauber Junior Team, made his car racing debut with Dragon, finishing sixth three times.
Results round-up
Race 1 (20 laps)
1 Shihab Al Habsi Xcel Motorsport 31m19.394s
2 Matteo Nannini Xcel Motorsport +2.373s
3 Rashed Ghanem Dragon Racing +4.203s
4 Rui Andrade Dragon Racing +4.631s
5 Niklas Krutten Mucke Motorsport +11.566s
6 Roman Stanek Dragon Racing +12.841s
7 Filip Kaminiarz Cram Motorsport +26.078s
8 Lucas Roy Dragon Racing +1 lap
Ret Rafa Villanueva Xcel Motorsport
Ret Joshua Durksen Mucke Motorsport
Pole: Al Habsi, 1m23.254s
Fastest lap: Krutten, 1m24.574s
Race 2 (22 laps)
1 Krutten 31m14.813s
2 Al Habsi +8.116s
3 Durksen +8.507s
4 Andrade +9.055s
5 Nico Gohler Mucke Motorsport +12.888s
6 Stanek +13.819s
7 Ghanem +14.425s
8 Nannini +17.296s
9 Villanueva +18.144s
10 Roy +24.985s
FL: Andrade, 1m24.288s
Race 3 (22 laps)
1 Nannini 31m19.200s
2 Gohler +2.095s
3 Al Habsi +2.724s
4 Ghanem +4.082s
5 Durksen +6.090s
6 Roy +13.198s
7 Villanueva +15.397s
8 Andrade +25.182s
9 Kaminiarz +34.546s
Ret Stanek
P: Al Habsi, 1m23.345s
FL: Al Habsi, 1m24.044s
Race 4 (22 laps)
1 Durksen 31m08.900s
2 Roy +5.589s
3 Nannini +8.988s
4 Al Habsi +9.745s
5 Villanueva +10.849s
6 Stanek +11.479s
7 Andrade +14.231s
8 Gohler +16.022s
9 Ghanem +17.116s
10 Kaminiarz +33.524s
FL: Durksen, 1m24.145s
Championship standings
1 Nannini 359? ?2 Durksen 292? ?3 Al Habsi 258? ?4 Roy 253? ?5 Andrade 196? ?6?Gohler 127? ?7 Ghanem 111? ?8?Villanueva 99? ?9?Tijmen van der Helm 96? ?10 Kaminiarz 95