2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

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2027

Support series:
UAE4 Series

The 2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy is a multi-event Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. The championship features a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula Regional cars. Known since 2023 as the Formula Regional Middle East Championship, the series was rebranded under the Trophy guise after the FIA introduced a new concept for single-seater championships held over shorter, constrained timeframes. ^[1] The change in guise coincided with a change in technical regulations, as the series switched to a new chassis and engine spec. ^[2]

The championship is held over four rounds in January and February 2026. ^[3]

Teams and drivers

The championship retired the Tatuus F3 T-318 chassis it had used since its inception and replaced it with the new Tatuus T-326, powered by a 1.6 litre, 3-cylinder Toyota engine running on Pirelli tires. ^[2] The eleven teams competing in the 2026 season were announced on 12 December 2025. ^{[4] [5]}

Team No. Driver Status Rounds Rodin Motorsport 2 Alex Ninovic [6] 1–3 4 Reza Seewooruthun [6] 1–3 18 Maxim Rehm [6] R 1–3 Trident 3 Maximilian Popov [a] [7] R 1–3 47 Andrija Kostić [7] R 1–3 87 Kai Daryanani [b] [7] 1–3 RPM 5 Miguel Costa [8] R 1–3 8 Jan Przyrowski [9] R 1–3 99 Giovanni Maschio [8] 1–3 CL Motorsport 6 Enea Frey [10] R 1–3 28 Zhenrui Chi [c] [11] 1–3 57 Michael Belov [d] [11] 1 69 Reno Francot [12] R 3 Van Amersfoort Racing 11 Francisco Macedo [13] 1–3 55 Dion Gowda [14] 1–3 68 Yuhao Fu [15] R 1–3 R-ace GP 12 Yuki Sano [16] 1–3 71 Rashid Al Dhaheri [17] 1–3 73 Gerrard Xie [18] 1–2 Emanuele Olivieri [19] R 3 G4 Racing 14 Artem Severiukhin [d] [20] R 1–3 24 Jules Roussel [21] R 1–3 67 Andrea Dupé [22] R 1–3 MP Motorsport 15 Alexander Abkhazava [23] 1–3 16 Christian Ho [23] 1–2 Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. [12] 3 17 Alceu Feldmann Neto [23] 1–3 ART Grand Prix 19 Kabir Anurag [24] R 1–3 27 Matteo Giaccardi [25] R 1–3 89 Taito Kato [26] 1–3 TBA Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak [27] TBC Pinnacle Motorsport 29 August Raber [e] [28] R 1–3 41 Alex Powell [28] R 1–3 Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited 51 Kean Nakamura-Berta [f] [29] R 1–3 88 Salim Hanna R 1–3 98 Sebastian Wheldon R 1–3

Icon Status R Rookie

Race calendar

The 2026 calendar was officially announced on 31 October 2025. ^[3] The adoption of the Formula Regional Trophy format saw the number of race weekends reduced to four, with the series scheduled to make two visits in Yas Marina Circuit, compared to three in the previous year.

Round		Circuit	Date	Support bill	Map of circuit locations
1	R1	Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island (Grand Prix Circuit)	17 January	Gulf Radical Cup UAE4 Series	Yas Marina Dubai Lusail
	R2		18 January
	R3
2	R1	Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island (Corkscrew Circuit)	24 January	UAE4 Series
	R2		25 January
	R3
3	R1	Dubai Autodrome, Dubai Motor City (Grand Prix Circuit)	30 January	Asian Le Mans Series (4H of Dubai) UAE4 Series
	R2		1 February
	R3
4	R1	Lusail International Circuit, Lusail (Grand Prix Circuit)	11–13 February	UAE4 Series Toyota Gazoo Racing GR Yaris Cup Qatar
	R2
	R3

Race results

Round		Circuit	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team	Rookie winner
1	R1	Yas Marina Circuit (Grand Prix Circuit)	Alexander Abkhazava	Kean Nakamura-Berta	Alexander Abkhazava	MP Motorsport	Maximilian Popov
	R2			Christian Ho	Christian Ho	MP Motorsport	Miguel Costa
	R3		Rashid Al Dhaheri	Rashid Al Dhaheri	Rashid Al Dhaheri	R-ace GP	Alex Powell
2	R1	Yas Marina Circuit (Corkscrew Circuit)	Kean Nakamura-Berta	Rashid Al Dhaheri	Rashid Al Dhaheri	R-ace GP	Kean Nakamura-Berta
	R2			Alex Powell	Alex Ninovic	Rodin Motorsport	Jan Przyrowski
	R3		Sebastian Wheldon	Rashid Al Dhaheri	Rashid Al Dhaheri	R-ace GP	Kean Nakamura-Berta
3	R1	Dubai Autodrome (Grand Prix Circuit)	Taito Kato	Kean Nakamura-Berta	Taito Kato	ART Grand Prix	Kean Nakamura-Berta
	R2			Maximilian Popov	Salim Hanna	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited	Salim Hanna
	R3		Alex Powell	Kean Nakamura-Berta	Alexander Abkhazava	MP Motorsport	Kean Nakamura-Berta
4	R1	Lusail International Circuit (Grand Prix Circuit)
	R2
	R3

Season report

The 2025 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy began with two race weekends at Yas Marina Circuit. MP Motorsport's Alexander Abkhazava and R-ace GP's Rashid Al Dhaheri shared pole positions in qualifying at the first weekend. The first race of the season began with Abkhazava keeping Al Dhaheri and Trident's Maximilian Popov behind at the start before winning a processional race with little changes in the order. ^[30] The second race began with multiple cars stalling, among them Rodin's Reza Seewooruthun, who was then heavily hit by CL Motorsport's Michael Belov, causing a red flag. Trident's Andrija Kostić led the restart before being handed a drive-through penalty, which handed the lead to RPM's Miguel Costa before MP's Christian Ho overtook him to claim victory. Rodin's Alex Ninovic took third, before stalling off the front row in race three. That allowed Al Dhaheri to pull away, leading Pinnacle's Alex Powell and Ho through a second red flag-interrupted race to take his maiden Formula Regional victory and the lead in the standings. ^{[31] [32]}

Round two used Yas Marina's corkscrew layout, and pole positions in qualifying were claimed by the Mumbai Falcons pair of Kean Nakamura-Berta and Sebastian Wheldon. Al Dhaheri moved past Nakamura-Berta at the start of the opening race as Powell slotted into third. The race was red-flagged with five laps to go after contact between MP’s Alceu Feldmann Neto and VAR’s Yuhao Fu saw the Brazilian's car flipped upside down, but the order at the top remained static. Ninovic started race two on reverse-grid pole position, with most drivers starting on wet tyres after pre-race rain. He lost the lead to RPM's Jan Przyrowski at the start, but was able to regain it on lap five. He then gapped Przyrowski and Popov before the race finished under safety car. Race three saw Al Dhaheri once again move past the polesitter at the start, with Wheldon also losing out to Nakamura-Berta one corner later. Al Dhaheri remained faultless throughout two safety car periods to claim victory and grow his championship lead to 35 points over Nakamura-Berta. ^[33]

The Dubai Autodrome hosted round three, where ART Grand Prix driver Taito Kato and Powell shared pole positions in qualifying. Defensive driving at the start of the opening race saw Kato hold off Abkhazava, while Nakamura-Berta fended off Al Dhaheri. The top four positions remained static, handing Kato his maiden Formula Regional win. ^[34] Powell started the second race form reversed-grid pole position ahead of Mumbai Falcons driver Salim Hanna, but a bad start saw him drop to fourth exiting the opening corner. Hanna claimed the lead ahead of Ninovic and Przyrowski and led throughout two safety car interruptions to take victory. ^[35] Powell crashed and retired, with subsequent repairs forcing him to miss race three. With R-ace GP's Yuki Sano also missing the race, Abkhazava had a clear road ahead despite originally qualifying third. He had to fend off Nakamura-Berta multiple times before being able to take the win. R-ace GP's Emanuele Olivieri came third, with Al Dhaheri not scoring and his lead over Nakamura-Berta reduced to 24 points. ^[36]

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified drivers as follows. ^[37]

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th
Points	25	18	15	12	10	8	6	4	2	1

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver YMC1 YMC2 DUB LUS Pts R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 1 Rashid Al Dhaheri 2 5 1 1 15 1 4 5 16 125 2 Kean Nakamura-Berta 4 Ret 5 2 5 2 3 Ret 2 101 3 Alexander Abkhazava 1 6 17 10 Ret 4 2 7 1 95 4 Maximilian Popov 3 8 6 8 3 Ret 5 4 23 68 5 Alex Ninovic 7 3 18 12 1 13 9 2 26 66 6 Taito Kato 5 Ret DNS 14 11 8 1 11 5 49 7 Alex Powell 6 23 2 3 28 6 12 Ret DNS 49 8 Jan Przyrowski 14 26 13 11 2 14 10 3 4 46 9 Salim Hanna 15 4 20 24 21 12 11 1 6 45 10 Christian Ho 8 1 3 17 22 11 44 11 Kabir Anurag 22 14 4 6 6 5 16 9 20 40 12 Sebastian Wheldon 31 21 14 7 4 3 Ret 17 9 35 13 Yuki Sano 24 13 10 4 8 7 6 Ret DNS 31 14 Miguel Costa 10 2 Ret 16 7 10 22 15 14 26 15 Emanuele Olivieri 7 Ret 3 21 16 Zhenrui Chi 17 9 7 21 13 23 8 6 27 20 17 Artem Severiukhin 13 16 9 5 27 9 28 22 18 14 18 Francisco Macedo 16 7 22 9 12 22 13 25† 8 12 19 Jules Roussel 26 18 19 18 10 16 17 14 7 7 20 Maxim Rehm 9 27 Ret 27 16 17 18 8 27 6 21 Andrija Kostić 12 Ret 8 DSQ 20 20 21 20 13 4 22 Reza Seewooruthun 11 Ret DNS 29† 9 21 Ret Ret 15 2 23 Andrea Dupé 20 11 23 15 26 15 14 10 11 1 24 Dion Gowda 23 12 11 22 17 Ret 15 DNS 10 1 25 Gerrard Xie 21 10 12 13 19 19 1 26 Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. Ret 19 12 0 27 Enea Frey 27 20 Ret 23 29† 28 23 12 22 0 28 Reno Francot 20 13 29† 0 29 Matteo Giaccardi 29 24 21 26 14 25 27 Ret 25 0 30 Yuhao Fu 30 22 15 28 18 26 24 16 24 0 31 Giovanni Maschio 25 15 Ret 19 23 24 Ret 24 21 0 32 Alceu Feldmann Neto 32 25 16 Ret Ret 29 25 23 Ret 0 33 Kai Daryanani 19 17 24† 25 25 18 19 18 17 0 34 Michael Belov 18 Ret DNS 0 35 August Raber 28 19 Ret 20 24 27 26 21 19 0 Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts YMC1 YMC2 DUB LUS

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as they completed more than 75% of the race distance.

Rookie Cup

Pos	Driver	YMC1			YMC2			DUB			LUS			Pts
		R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3
1	Kean Nakamura-Berta	2	Ret	3	1	4	1	1	Ret	1				145
2	Maximilian Popov	1	3	4	6	2	Ret	2	3	14				111
3	Jan Przyrowski	8	14	7	7	1	8	4	2	3				90
4	Kabir Anurag	11	5	2	4	5	3	8	5	12				79
5	Alex Powell	3	12	1	2	16	4	6	Ret	DNS				78
6	Salim Hanna	9	2	11	13	12	7	5	1	4				73
7	Miguel Costa	5	1	Ret	9	6	6	13	10	9				56
8	Sebastian Wheldon	17	10	8	5	3	2	Ret	12	6				56
9	Artem Severiukhin	7	6	6	3	15	5	18	15	10				48
10	Andrea Dupé	10	4	13	8	14	9	7	6	7				39
11	Emanuele Olivieri							3	Ret	2				33
12	Jules Roussel	12	7	10	10	7	10	9	9	5				29
13	Maxim Rehm	4	15	Ret	15	9	11	10	4	17				27
14	Andrija Kostić	6	Ret	5	DSQ	11	12	12	13	8				22
15	Enea Frey	13	9	Ret	12	17†	16	14	7	13				8
16	August Raber	14	8	Ret	11	13	15	16	14	11				4
17	Reno Francot							11	8	18†				4
18	Matteo Giaccardi	15	13	12	14	8	13	17	Ret	16				4
19	Yuhao Fu	16	11	9	16	10	14	15	11	15				3
Pos	Driver	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	Pts
		YMC1			YMC2			DUB			LUS

Teams' Championship

Ahead of each event, teams nominate two drivers who accumulate teams' points.

Pos	Team	No.	YMC1			YMC2			DUB			LUS			Pts
			R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3
1	R-ace GP	12	24	13	10	4	8	7							169
		71	2	5	1	1	15	1	4	5	16
		73							7	Ret	3
2	MP Motorsport	15	1	6	17	10	Ret	4	2	7	1				139
		16	8	1	3	17	22	11	Ret	19	12
3	Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited	51	4	Ret	5	2	5	2	3	Ret	2				136
		98	31	21	14	7	4	3	Ret	17	9
4	ART Grand Prix	19	22	14	4	6	6	5	16	9	20				89
		89	5	Ret	DNS	14	11	8	1	11	5
5	RPM	5	10	2	Ret	16	7	10	22	15	14				72
		8	14	26	13	11	2	14	10	3	4
6	Trident	3	3	8	6	8	3	Ret	5	4	23				72
		47	12	Ret	8	DSQ	20	20	21	20	13
7	Rodin Motorsport	2	7	3	18	12	1	13	9	2	26				68
		4	11	Ret	DNS	29†	9	21	Ret	Ret	15
8	Pinnacle Motorsport	29	28	19	Ret	20	24	27	26	21	19				49
		41	6	23	2	3	28	6	12	Ret	DNS
9	G4 Racing	14	13	16	9	5	27	9	28	22	18				21
		24				18	10	16	17	14	7
		67	20	11	23
10	CL Motorsport	6				23	29†	28							20
		28	17	9	7	21	13	23	8	6	28
		57	18	Ret	DNS
		69							20	13	29†
11	Van Amersfoort Racing	11	16	7	22	9	12	22	13	25†	10				13
		55	23	12	11	22	17	Ret	15	DNS	8
Pos	Team	No.	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	R1	R2	R3	Pts
			YMC1			YMC2			DUB			LUS

Notes

1. Popov is Russian-Grenadian, but he competes under an Italian licence as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
2. Daryanani is an Indian driver competing under a British licence.
3. Chi is a Chinese driver competing under an Italian licence.
4. Belov and Severiukhin are Russian, but they compete under an Emirati and a Kyrgyz licence, respectively, as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
5. Raber is a Swedish driver competing under an Emirati licence.
6. Nakamura-Berta is a Japanese-Slovakian driver competing under a British licence.

References

1. "Milestones set at World Motor Sport Council in Macau". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile . 10 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
2. "Formula Regional Middle East Announces GEN2 Car for 2026 Season - TOP SPEED SPORTS EVENTS LS LIMITED". en.fregionalme.com. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
3. "Formula Regional Middle East Trophy on Instagram: '💥Announce the 2026 Formula Middle East Calendar!'". Instagram . 31 October 2025. Retrieved 31 October 2025.
4. "Formula Regional Middle East unveils 11-strong powerhouse team entry - TOP SPEED SPORTS EVENTS LS LIMITED". Formula Regional Middle East Trophy . 12 December 2025. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
5. "The new Tatuus T-326 set for its competitive debut at Yas Marina". tatuus.it. Tatuus. January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
6. "rodinmotorsport on Instagram: 'Say hello to the lineup'". Instagram . 7 January 2026. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
7. "Trident with Daryanani in the Middle East and European Regional series". Trident Racing . 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
8. Wood, Ida (2 January 2026). "Maschio continues with Race Performance Motorsport in FREC". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
9. Wood, Ida (15 December 2025). "Przyrowski steps up to FRegional with Race Performance Motorsport". Formula Scout. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
10. "CL MOTORSPORT CONFIRMS ENEA FREY FOR THE FRME". CL Motorsport. 23 December 2025. Retrieved 23 December 2025.
11. "frmiddleeasttrophyon Instagram: '[Enea FREY],[CHI Zhenrui], and [Michael BELOV] to Race with [CL MOTORSPORT] in 2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy". Instagram . 13 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
12. "Here is the entry list for this weekend's FR Middle East round at Dubai". x.com. 28 January 2026. Retrieved 28 January 2026.
13. "Francisco Macedo signs with Van Amersfoort Racing for Formula Regional". Van Amersfoort Racing . 14 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
14. "Dion Gowda continues with Van Amersfoort Racing in Formula Regional". Van Amersfoort Racing . 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
15. "Van Amersfoort Racing welcomes Felix Fu for Formula Regional Middle East Trophy". Van Amersfoort Racing . 17 December 2025. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
16. "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2026 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing . 19 December 2025. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
17. Wood, Ida (13 January 2026). "MP Motorsport and R-ace GP announce FRegional Middle East line-ups". Formula Scout. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
18. "R-ace GP on Instagram: 'And last but not least, Formula 3 driver @gerrard_xie_official will compete in the first two rounds of the @frmiddleeasttrophy with R-ace GP 🔥'". Instagram . 13 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
19. "Feeder Series on X: 'DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT | 🇮🇹 Emanuele Olivieri joins R-ace GP for the final two rounds of Formula Regional Middle East Trophy, replacing Gerrard Xie.'". X. 14 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
20. "G4 Racing confirms Artem Severiukhin for FRMET 2026". G4 Racing . 12 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
21. Chambenoit, Mathieu (9 January 2026). "Jules Roussel to FRMET with G4 Racing". AUTOHebdo. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
22. "G4 Racing confirms Andrea Dupé for FRMET 2026". G4 Racing . 11 January 2026. Retrieved 11 January 2026.
23. "MP Motorsport announces three-car line-up for 2026 FR Middle East Trophy". MP Motorsport . 13 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
24. "Kabir Anurag joins ART in FREC/FREMEC in 2026". ART Grand Prix . 15 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
25. "ART announces Matteo Giaccardi for the 2026 FREC/FRME". ART Grand Prix . 8 January 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
26. "Honda 2026 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda. 9 January 2026. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
27. "Formula Regional Middle East Trophy on Instagram: '‼️DRIVER ANNOUNCEMENT‼️'". Instagram . 13 January 2026. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
28. Wood, Ida (12 January 2026). "Alex Powell headed to FRME as G4 Racing and Pinnacle grow line-ups". Formula Scout. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
29. "Italian F4 Champion Kean Nakamura-Berta joins the Williams F1 Team Driver Academy". Atlassian Williams F1 Team. Retrieved 9 January 2026.
30. "Abkhazava and Bondarev claim first spoils of 2026 season at Yas Marina". Formula Regional Middle East Trophy . 18 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
31. "Al Dhaheri and Bondarev lead the way after action-packed Abu Dhabi season-opener". Formula Regional Middle East Trophy . 19 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
32. "Feeder Series weekend review, results and standings: 15–18 January". Feeder Series. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
33. Wood, Ida (26 January 2026). "Al Dhaheri pulls away in FRegional Middle East title fight with two wins". Formula Scout. Retrieved 27 January 2026.
34. Wood, Ida (31 January 2026). "Kato converts pole into victory in FRME's first Dubai Autodrome race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
35. Wood, Ida (1 February 2026). "Salim Hanna keeps it cool for first FRegional Middle East win at Dubai". Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
36. Wood, Ida (1 February 2026). "Abkhazava win puts energy back into FRegional Middle East title fight". Formula Scout. Retrieved 5 February 2026.
37. "Formula Regional Middle East Trophy - Sporting Regulations 2026". 5 January 2026. Retrieved 12 January 2026.

External links

• Official website