Team Motopark’s Jonathan Aberdein won two out of three races at Round 3 of the 2016/17 Formula 4 UAE Championship this weekend, but it was his Venezuelan teammate Sebastian Wahbeh who became the first new driver to claim victory in the inaugural season of the Middle East’s newest open-wheeler championship.
For the first two championship rounds, the experienced German F4 team had claimed victory in all seven previous races thanks to South African, Aberdein (#21), but Motopark’s expansion from a two-car to four-car operation at the Dubai Autodrome round saw added competition among the field.
Wahbeh – who competed fulltime in the Italian F4 Championship last year with one race win and pole position to his credit – finished second in his first race on Friday evening before the 16-year-old claimed honours in the reverse grid Race 9 on Saturday morning.
“Sebastian showed good results, strong pace, he had two front-row qualifying results, a second place finish and one win, so it’s all positive for his development as a racing driver,” said Team Motopark principal Timo Rumpfkeil.
“He has already done his winter testing in Europe but this was the first time he has driven the German F4-spec car. With his plans to race again in Italy in a few months’ time, it was really important for him to get back into racing mode and we’re happy with how he has competed against everyone and also worked with the team.
“For Jonathan, there has been a lot of pressure on him this year, especially with his teammate Logan [Sargeant] pushing him the whole season. He was unlucky not to get that win but it is unrealistic to win everything. These results are still good preparation for European racing which starts very soon,” concluded Rumpfkeil.
Races Summary
Aberdein lead from pole position to his eighth race win of the championship, while his full-season teammate and leading rookie Sargeant stalled off the startline. Wahbeh benefitted, moving from third to second place, where he remained until the end of the 20mins session.
Australian Oscar Piastri (88) from Dragon F4 and Babington maintained third and fourth positions respectively for most of the first race, until Sargeant carved through the field to overtake both by the chequered flag, and taking the final step on the podium.
An eventful reverse grid Race 9 on Saturday morning saw Rasgaira Motorsport’s David Malukas (#79) from the USA take the lead on lap one, holding off the majority of the field until Wahbeh charged from the last row to first place by the completion of the race. Holding out the remaining hungry Team Motopark drivers, Malukas claimed second outright, his second podium finish for the season, ahead of Aberdein in third.
First lap incidents in Saturday morning’s Race 9 saw Sargeant and Weerts both suffering front-end damage; Sargeant by out-braking himself at turn one and meeting the tyre barriers, while Weerts collided with Qatar’s Ahmad Al Muhannadi.
Piastri and Babington again finished fourth and fifth in Race 9, with Piastri’s results being his highest to date after only having made his circuit-racing debut at the last round in Abu Dhabi.
With Race 10’s starting grid decided by each driver’s second-fastest qualifying lap, Team Motopark had the advantage from the get-go with Aberdein and Sargeant back on the top two steps of the podium, Babington claimed his sixth third-place finish for the season, while Wahbeh finished seventh after being given a drive-through penalty for a starting infringement.