2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy

Motor racing championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy 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. 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 was held over four rounds in January and February 2026.[3] Kean Nakamura-Berta won the Drivers' Championship title at the final race of the season and in doing so also won the Rookie Cup and helped his team, the Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited, to defend their Teams' Championship title.

Mumbai Falcons driver Kean Nakamura-Berta won both the overall Drivers' Championship title and the Rookie Cup.

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]

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 making two visits in Yas Marina Circuit, compared to three in the previous year.

More information Round, Circuit ...
Round Circuit Date Support bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island
(Grand Prix Circuit)
17 January Gulf Radical Cup
UAE4 Series
R2 18 January
R3
2 R1 United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island
(Corkscrew Circuit)
24 January UAE4 Series
R2 25 January
R3
3 R1 United Arab Emirates 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 Qatar Lusail International Circuit, Lusail
(Grand Prix Circuit)
12 February UAE4 Series
R2 13 February
R3
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Race results

Season report

The 2026 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.[31] 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.[32][33]

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.[34]

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.[35] 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.[36] 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.[37]

The final round was held at Lusail International Circuit, and it began with disruptions. Engine drive belt defects for multiple drivers in free practice prompted organizers to order spare parts from Europe. That saw the schedule reduced to just two races, with the reversed-grid race cancelled.[30] When qualifying came around, championship chaser Nakamura-Berta was the man to beat as he claimed both pole positions. Poor starts to the first race for Powell and Al Dhaheri saw Wheldon and Przyrowski move past them into the podium positions. After initial attacks by Wheldon, positions stabilized and Nakamura-Berta took victory. With Al Dhaheri finishing sixth, the gap in the championship was reduced to just seven points. Race two saw Nakamura-Berta able to stay in first as Wheldon and Powell fought over second place. A safety car followed after multiple incidents. Nakamura-Berta had a faultless restart and a trouble-free rest of the race, which, coupled with a seventh-place finish for Al Dhaheri, saw him claim the championship title.[38]

Championship standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified drivers as follows.[39]

More information Position, Points ...
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
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Drivers' Championship

More information Pos, Driver ...
Pos Driver YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 United Kingdom Kean Nakamura-Berta 4 Ret 5 2 5 2 3 Ret 2 1 C 1 151
2 United Arab Emirates Rashid Al Dhaheri 2 5 1 1 15 1 4 5 16 6 C 7 139
3 Kazakhstan Alexander Abkhazava 1 6 17 10 Ret 4 2 7 1 26 C Ret 95
4 United States Alex Powell 6 23 2 3 28 6 12 Ret DNS 4 C 3 76
5 United States Sebastian Wheldon 31 21 14 7 4 3 Ret 17 9 2 C 2 71
6 Poland Jan Przyrowski 14 26 13 11 2 14 10 3 4 3 C 5 71
7 Italy Maximilian Popov 3 8 6 8 3 Ret 5 4 23 9 C 11 70
8 Australia Alex Ninovic 7 3 18 12 1 13 9 2 26 15 C 18 66
9 Singapore Kabir Anurag 22 14 4 6 6 5 16 9 20 5 C 4 62
10 Colombia Salim Hanna 15 4 20 24 21 12 11 1 6 10 C 6 54
11 Japan Taito Kato 5 Ret DNS 14 11 8 1 11 5 49
12 Singapore Christian Ho 8 1 3 17 22 11 44
13 Japan Yuki Sano 24 13 10 4 8 7 6 Ret DNS 8 C 9 37
14 Italy Emanuele Olivieri 7 Ret 3 7 C 8 31
15 Brazil Miguel Costa 10 2 Ret 16 7 10 22 15 14 17 C 10 27
16 Italy Zhenrui Chi 17 9 7 21 13 23 8 6 27 25 C 19 20
17 Kyrgyzstan Artem Severiukhin 13 16 9 5 27 9 28 22 18 12 C Ret 14
18 Portugal Francisco Macedo 16 7 22 9 12 22 13 25† 8 21 C 14 12
19 France Jules Roussel 26 18 19 18 10 16 17 14 7 16 C 15 7
20 Germany Maxim Rehm 9 27 Ret 27 16 17 18 8 27 Ret C DNS 6
21 Serbia Andrija Kostić 12 Ret 8 DSQ 20 20 21 20 13 19 C 21 4
22 United Kingdom Reza Seewooruthun 11 Ret DNS 29† 9 21 Ret Ret 15 24 C 23 2
23 France Andrea Dupé 20 11 23 15 26 15 14 10 11 13 C 20 1
24 India Dion Gowda 23 12 11 22 17 Ret 15 DNS 10 23 C 17 1
25 China Gerrard Xie 21 10 12 13 19 19 1
26 Mexico Jesse Carrasquedo Jr. Ret 19 12 11 C DSQ 0
27 Switzerland Enea Frey 27 20 Ret 23 29† 28 23 12 22 22 C Ret 0
28 Thailand Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak 28 C 12 0
29 Netherlands Reno Francot 20 13 29† 14 C 22 0
30 Monaco Matteo Giaccardi 29 24 21 26 14 25 27 Ret 25 27 C 13 0
31 China Yuhao Fu 30 22 15 28 18 26 24 16 24 31 C 26 0
32 Italy Giovanni Maschio 25 15 Ret 19 23 24 Ret 24 21 30 C 24 0
33 United Kingdom Kai Daryanani 19 17 24† 25 25 18 19 18 17 18 C 16 0
34 Brazil Alceu Feldmann Neto 32 25 16 Ret Ret 29 25 23 Ret 29 C Ret 0
35 United Arab Emirates Michael Belov 18 Ret DNS 0
36 United Arab Emirates August Raber 28 19 Ret 20 24 27 26 21 19 20 C 25 0
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints classification
BlueNon-points classification
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired, not classified (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid 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.

Close

Rookie Cup

More information Pos, Driver ...
Pos Driver YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 United Kingdom Kean Nakamura-Berta 2 Ret 3 1 4 1 1 Ret 1 1 C 1 195
2 Italy Maximilian Popov 1 3 4 6 2 Ret 2 3 14 7 C 9 119
3 Poland Jan Przyrowski 8 14 7 7 1 8 4 2 3 3 C 5 115
4 United States Alex Powell 3 12 1 2 16 4 6 Ret DNS 4 C 3 105
5 Singapore Kabir Anurag 11 5 2 4 5 3 8 5 12 5 C 4 101
6 United States Sebastian Wheldon 17 10 8 5 3 2 Ret 12 6 2 C 2 92
7 Colombia Salim Hanna 9 2 11 13 12 7 5 1 4 8 C 6 85
8 Brazil Miguel Costa 5 1 Ret 9 6 6 13 10 9 13 C 8 60
9 Kyrgyzstan Artem Severiukhin 7 6 6 3 15 5 18 15 10 9 C Ret 50
10 Italy Emanuele Olivieri 3 Ret 2 6 C 7 47
11 France Andrea Dupé 10 4 13 8 14 9 7 6 11 10 C 12 34
12 France Jules Roussel 12 7 10 10 7 10 9 9 5 12 C 11 29
13 Germany Maxim Rehm 4 15 Ret 15 9 11 10 4 17 Ret C DNS 27
14 Serbia Andrija Kostić 6 Ret 5 DSQ 11 12 12 13 8 14 C 13 22
15 Switzerland Enea Frey 13 9 Ret 12 17† 16 14 7 7 16 C Ret 14
16 Monaco Matteo Giaccardi 15 13 12 14 8 13 17 Ret 16 17 C 10 5
17 United Arab Emirates August Raber 14 8 Ret 11 13 15 16 14 11 15 C 15 4
18 Netherlands Reno Francot 11 8 18† 11 C 14 4
19 China Yuhao Fu 16 11 9 16 10 14 15 11 15 18 C 16 3
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
Close

Teams' Championship

Ahead of each event, teams nominated two drivers who accumulated Teams' Championship points.

More information Pos, Team ...
Pos Team No. YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3
1 India Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited 51 4 Ret 5 2 5 2 3 Ret 2 1 C 1 222
98 31 21 14 7 4 3 Ret 17 9 2 C 2
2 France R-ace GP 12 24 13 10 4 8 7 199
71 2 5 1 1 15 1 4 5 16 6 C 7
73 7 Ret 3 7 C 8
3 Netherlands MP Motorsport 15 1 6 17 10 Ret 4 2 7 1 26 C Ret 139
16 8 1 3 17 22 11 Ret 19 12 11 C DSQ
4 France ART Grand Prix 7 28 C 12 111
19 22 14 4 6 6 5 16 9 20 5 C 4
89 5 Ret DNS 14 11 8 1 11 5
5 Italy RPM 5 10 2 Ret 16 7 10 22 15 14 17 C 10 98
8 14 26 13 11 2 14 10 3 4 3 C 5
6 Republic of Ireland Pinnacle Motorsport 29 28 19 Ret 20 24 27 26 21 19 20 C 25 76
41 6 23 2 3 28 6 12 Ret DNS 4 C 3
7 Italy Trident 3 3 8 6 8 3 Ret 5 4 23 9 C 11 74
47 12 Ret 8 DSQ 20 20 21 20 13
87 18 C 16
8 Australia Rodin Motorsport 2 7 3 18 12 1 13 9 2 26 15 C 18 68
4 11 Ret DNS 29† 9 21 Ret Ret 15 24 C 23
9 Switzerland G4 Racing 14 13 16 9 5 27 9 28 22 18 12 C Ret 21
24 18 10 16 17 14 7 16 C 15
67 20 11 23
10 Italy CL Motorsport 6 23 29† 28 20
28 17 9 7 21 13 23 8 6 27 25 C 19
57 18 Ret DNS
69 20 13 29† 14 C 22
11 Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 11 16 7 22 9 12 22 13 25† 8 21 C 14 13
55 23 12 11 22 17 Ret 15 DNS 10 23 C 17
Pos Team No. R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 Pts
YMC1
United Arab Emirates
YMC2
United Arab Emirates
DUB
United Arab Emirates
LUS
Qatar
Close

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 a Kyrgyz and a British 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

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