The 2024 Formula Regional Middle East Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. The championship featured a mix of professional and amateur drivers, competing in Formula Regional cars. It was the second season of the championship, held in January and February 2024.
Finnish driver Tuukka Taponen, driving for R-ace GP, won the Rookie Cup after the fourth round at Yas Marina with three races to spare. One race later, after the first encounter of the final weekend, he also won the overall Drivers' Championship, while his team clinched the Teams' Championship.
Teams and drivers All drivers competed using identical Tatuus-built Formula Regional cars powered by a 270HP turbocharged Alfa Romeo engine and on Giti tires. TeamNo.DriverStatusRounds R-ace GP1 Tuukka Taponen All2 Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. All19 Kanato Le 4–520 Zachary David All34 Martinius Stenshorne1–3 Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited3 Ugo Ugochukwu All8 Rafael CâmaraAll13 James Wharton All23 Arvid Lindblad 1–3 Xcel Motorsport4 Noah Lisle All96 Yaroslav Veselaho All PHM AIX Racing5 Taylor BarnardAll15 Brando Badoer All18 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakAll66 Ruiqi Liu All MP Motorsport6 Bruno del PinoAll26 Isaac Barashi 3–547 Nikhil BohraAll55 Valerio Rinicella 1–277 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr.All Saintéloc Racing7 Pedro Clerot 1–2 Noah Strømsted 314 Matteo De Palo 1–2 José Garfias3–544 Théophile Naël All74 Enzo Peugeot 4–5 Pinnacle Motorsport12 Alexander Abkhazava All64 Mari BoyaAll69 Finley Green All99 Giovanni MaschioAll Evans GP17 Edgar Pierre 4–527 John BennettAll43 Costa ToparisAll R&B Racing22 Wang ZhongweiAll29 Gao YujiaAll Icon Status Rookie
Race calendar The 2024 calendar was officially announced on 21 August 2023. The Kuwait Motor Town rounds that featured in the 2023 season were removed from the calendar, with the championship consisting only of rounds held in the UAE. RoundCircuitDateSupport billMap of circuit locations 1R1 Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island(Corkscrew Circuit) 13 JanuaryFormula 4 UAE ChampionshipClio Cup Middle EastR214 JanuaryR3 2R4 Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island(Grand Prix Circuit) 20 JanuaryMiddle East Trophy (6H of Abu Dhabi)Formula 4 UAE ChampionshipGulf Radical CupGulf ProCarR5R621 January 3R7 Dubai Autodrome, Dubai Motor City(Grand Prix Circuit) 3 FebruaryAsian Le Mans Series (4H of Dubai)Formula 4 UAE ChampionshipR8R94 February 4R10 Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island(Grand Prix Circuit) 9 FebruaryAsian Le Mans Series (4H of Abu Dhabi)Formula 4 UAE ChampionshipClio Cup Middle EastR1110 FebruaryR12 5R13 Dubai Autodrome, Dubai Motor City(Grand Prix Circuit) 17 FebruaryFormula 4 UAE ChampionshipGulf Radical CupR1418 FebruaryR15
Race results Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Rookie winner 1 R1 Yas Marina Circuit Taylor Barnard Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing Tuukka Taponen R2 Taylor Barnard Arvid Lindblad Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited Arvid Lindblad R3 Taylor Barnard Martinius Stenshorne Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing Ugo Ugochukwu 2 R4 Yas Marina Circuit Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP Tuukka Taponen R5 Mari Boya Théophile Naël Saintéloc Racing Théophile Naël R6 Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP Tuukka Taponen 3 R7 Dubai Autodrome Taylor Barnard Tuukka Taponen Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing Tuukka Taponen R8 Mari Boya Nikhil Bohra MP Motorsport Brando Badoer R9 Rafael Câmara Rafael Câmara Rafael Câmara Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited Tuukka Taponen 4 R10 Yas Marina Circuit Taylor Barnard Tuukka Taponen Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing Tuukka Taponen R11 Rafael Câmara Rafael Câmara Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited Ugo Ugochukwu R12 Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP Tuukka Taponen 5 R13 Dubai Autodrome Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP Tuukka Taponen R14 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing James Wharton R15 Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP Tuukka Taponen
Season report
First half The second season of the Formula Regional Middle East Championship opened up around Yas Marina's Corkscrew Layout with last year's runner-up Taylor Barnard taking a pair of pole positions for PHM AIX Racing. He held his first place ahead of R-ace GP's Tuukka Taponen all race, taking an unthreatened victory, while Taponen's teammate Martinius Stenshorne rose from seventh to the final podium spot. The second race saw a very similar outcome, with the top two, Mumbai Falcons's Arvid Lindblad and R-ace GP's Zachary David, holding stationary all race, while Stenshorne once again climbed from eighth to third. The third race saw a fight for the win for the first time when Stenshorne got past Mumbai Falcons's Ugo Ugochukwu at the start and then attacked Barnard for the lead. After two laps, he managed to get past and led Barnard and Ugochukwu home, before his move was judged to have been made off track. The ensuing penalty gave Barnard his second win, together with a six-point standings lead.
When the championship moved to the circuit's Grand Prix Layout one week later, Taponen was the man to beat, taking two pole positions in qualifying. The first race saw Saintéloc's Théophile Naël pitch Barnard into a spin at the start. Taponen converted his lead into a win, only threatened during a mid-race safety car restart by Stenshorne, who eventually finished second ahead of Pinnacle's Mari Boya. Naël's penalty for his move on Barnard moved him up the reverse grid into third, from where he was able to profit off Ugochukwu's poor start to claim the race lead. PHM's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak moved into second, while Ugochukwu continued dropping down the order, allowing Boya to take another podium. Ugochukwu then collided with his teammate James Wharton and retired. Taponen was back on top for the final race, resisting pressure amid a last-lap safety car restart to take a second win ahead of Naël and Barnard. This saw him take the championship lead, while two pointless races saw Barnard drop to third.
After a break weekend, the championship moved to Dubai Autodrome for round three, where Barnard and Mumbai Falcons's Rafael Câmara shared pole positions. The pair started race one alongside each other, before Taponen overtook Câmara and started pressuring the leader. The pair battled all race, but Barnard held on to win. A similar battle for third between Câmara, Boya and Stenshorne ended with the former coming out on top. MP Motorsport's Nikhil Bohra took the lead off Naël at the start of race two, with the Frenchman then dropping down the order before eventually retiring. This allowed Inthraphuvasak and PHM's Brando Badoer to take the podium spots. The third race saw Taponen part of another battle for the lead. While his opponent was Câmara this time, the outcome was much the same. Câmara claimed the win, with Taponen second once again and Badoer in third. With Barnard only managing fourth after an overambitious move for the lead, Taponen extended his championship lead to 32 points.
Second half Teams and drivers then returned to Yas Marina, where championship challengers Barnard and Taponen took the pole positions. The Brit resisted the Fin at the start of the first race and kept a steady gap to him from then on to take his fourth win of the year, with Evans GP's Costa Toparis five seconds back in third. MP's reverse grid polesitter Bruno del Pino was almost wiped out at a safety car restart during the second race, when others assumed the race had already begun again. His suspension then broke one lap later, resulting in Câmara taking the lead and another safety car. The Brazilian converted this lead into a win, with Ugochukwu coming second and David in third. The final race also had two safety car phases, but polesitter Taponen was unbothered by them to take another win. Wharton and David also both finished where they started, in second and third. Barnard was now 50 points behind Taponen, who, with only 75 points still on offer, had already wrapped up the Rookie Cup and all but secured the championship.
Taponen only needed to finish inside the points to deny Barnard any chance at the championship, but he began the final weekend in Dubai with two pole positions in qualifying. He claimed his championship in dominant fashion with a lights-to-flag victory in the first race, leading his teammate David home to also secure the Teams' Championship for R-ace GP. Ugochukwu came third, passing Badoer who had started second and dropped to fifth through the race. The penultimate race of the season was then won by Barnard, who thereby took the runner-up position for the second year in a row by starting third, dropping to fifth and fighting his way back into the lead. Inthraphuvasak and Wharton completed the podium. Taponen ended the season with his fifth win, the same amount as Barnard, by leading Badoer and Naël home in another dominant display. This saw him grow his final championship advantage to 79 points.
Championship standings
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top ten classified drivers. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points251815121086421
Drivers' championship PosDriverYMC1YMC2DUB1YMC3DUB2PtsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31 Tuukka Taponen2641412722511512552 Taylor Barnard1811622†318411458191763 Rafael Câmara5RetRet461345191641281284 Zachary David82106Ret101115Ret4332641125 Mari Boya6753326†36RetNC1047751126 James Wharton42475Ret528†12554263111117 Ugo Ugochukwu1611310Ret764962Ret3461058 Martinius Stenshorne33225459181009 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak75Ret92148281513892Ret8610 Brando BadoerRet21111189733Ret15752527611 Théophile Naël1310681210Ret10RetRet12Ret937512 Nikhil Bohra14161312Ret89178622†Ret16Ret4913 Arvid Lindblad101815927†141024†3314 Costa Toparis2125181418Ret1214213891414122115 Alexander Abkhazava9416Ret15162017177Ret23†15Ret162016 Bruno del Pino179121712191313610Ret10261371817 Valerio Rinicella1126†1513761418 Matteo De Palo1514971615819 Noah Lisle19121720101115111111711272414720 Emerson Fittipaldi Jr.2018DSQ26Ret1221221217111510819521 Giovanni Maschio232025†1823172423†14129Ret191820222 Kanato Le19RetRet111013123 John Bennett121319DNS13221824†192016Ret181510124 Enzo Peugeot1612Ret121117025 Jesse Carrasquedo Jr.24191419112423192514DNS16132115026 Ruiqi Liu22152124201819DNS1613211317Ret24027 José Garfias17Ret1325†1714161918028 Pedro Clerot1817Ret2114Ret029 Isaac Barashi22Ret1518181921RetRet030 Noah Strømsted1616Ret031 Gao Yujia26222222172125182321Ret17201723032 Edgar Pierre22Ret18232021033 Yaroslav Veselaho25232023Ret25†27212024192122RetRet034 Finley GreenDNSRet2327†1920WDWDWDRetRet202522Ret035 Wang Zhongwei27Ret24†2521232620222320Ret2423220PosDriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PtsYMC1YMC2DUB1YMC3DUB2Bold – 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