Photo: F4 UAE
Taylor Barnard took his and PHM Racing’s first single-seater win in the fourth race of the opening Formula 4 United Arab Emirates round at Yas Marina Circuit.
The 25-minute partially reversed grid race featured a mixed-up grid with the top 12 from race three reversed before penalties were applied.
Xcel Motorsport’s Ivan Domingues started on pole, but MP Motorsport’s Suleiman Zanfari led the first few corners.
Barnard, starting fifth, worked his way through to lead by the end of lap one. Zanfari was able to initially reclaim first place, bringing Xcel’s Jamie Day into the mix for a while, but once Barnard got back ahead he was unmatched and opened a lead of six seconds before winning by 4.587s.
Day got into second as the race approached its midway point, but Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli from 12th on the grid was charging up the order to go for a podium. His progress looked to be stunted when Sohil Shah crashed under the W Hotel, but he was able to continue.
Having already pulled off a double overtake earlier on, Antonelli passed Day and race three winner Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak with a switchback as the cars came onto the support race pit straight.
There were points where the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior was half a second quicker than anyone else en route to second.
Day just held off Inthraphuvasak for third, and MP’s Miron Pingasov limited the damage from a middling start to take fifth ahead of Prema’s Charlie Wurz.
Ferrari junior James Wharton put on an impressive charge from 24th, rising 10 places on lap one and continued to progress up the order to finish ninth.
Poleman Domingues finished 11th, while Zanfari took 12th after contact with Global Racing Service’s Vladislav Ryabov.
Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema’s Aiden Neate was in the points before retiring with an unknown issue, while AKM Motorsport’s Brando Badoer had his race ruined by opening lap contact. Martinius Stenshorne was penalised 5s for crossing the pit exit lane.
Race results (13 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | +4.587s |
| 3 | Jamie Day | Xcel Motorsport | +7.149s |
| 4 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | MP Motorsport | +7.813s |
| 5 | Miron Pingasov | MP Motorsport | +9.601s |
| 6 | Charlie Wurz | Prema | +10.341s |
| 7 | Rik Koen | MP Motorsport | +16.501s |
| 8 | Oliver Gray | Hitech GP | +17.474s |
| 9 | James Wharton | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | +17.861s |
| 10 | Alex Dunne | Hitech GP | +17.925s |
| 11 | Ivan Domingues | Xcel Motorsport | +24.714s |
| 12 | Suleiman Zanfari | MP Motorsport | +27.927s |
| 13 | Michael Shin | JHR Developments | +33.257s |
| 14 | Nikhil Bohra | 3Y by R-ace GP | +33.424s |
| 15 | Ricardo Escotto | Cram-Hitech GP | +33.828s |
| 16 | Martinius Stenshorne | 3Y by R-ace GP | +34.555s |
| 17 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | Xcel Motorsport | +35.863s |
| 18 | Anshul Gandhi | Cram-Hitech GP | +36.296s |
| 19 | Jonas Ried | PHM Racing | +37.350s |
| 20 | Ismail Akhmedkhodjaev | Xcel Motorsport | +45.004s |
| 21 | Victoria Blokhina | 3Y by R-ace GP | +49.733s |
| 22 | Jules Castro | Pinnacle Motorsport | +1m05.919s |
| 23 | Brando Badoer | AKM Motorsport | +1m19.562s |
| Ret | Sohil Shah | Mumbai Falcons by Xcel | |
| Ret | Vladislav Ryabov | GRS | |
| Ret | Aiden Neate | Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema | |
| DBS | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | |
| Fastest lap: Antonelli, 1m55.629s
Championship standings |
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