Formula Regional Asia: Leclerc looking to grab title

This weekend sees the fifth and final round of the Asian series take place at the Yas Marina circuit. Current series leader Leclerc is poised to take the title.

There have been 12 interesting races over four events, but the final verdict will be decided at the end of this fifth and final round at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit. Formula Regional Asia has proved to be a very competitive series with a large high class field, providing the perfect preparation for the rest of the 2022 season that awaits the Ferrari Driver Academy students.

Leader. Coming into the final round, Arthur Leclerc leads thanks to three wins, one second and three third places, with further points finishes in all his other races. He sits on 178 points, a lead of 40 over Spain’s Pepe Marti in second spot. However, the Monegasque driver cannot afford to drop his guard and will have to perform well.

Dino and Ollie. Dino Beganovic is also looking to end this series on a high, after suffering some bad luck last time out in Dubai. The 17 year old Swede showed strong potential last weekend, so anything is possible. All eyes will be on Oliver Bearman, who was a brilliant third on his Formula Regional debut, the 16 year old Englishman adapting comfortably to what is a new discipline for him.

A positive note. “Last weekend, Leclerc made further progress, as he managed to improve his qualifying performance,” explained the head of the FDA, Marco Matassa. “He took a nice win in Race 3, always looking to maximise any opportunity that came his way. He comes to Abu Dhabi with high hopes, but it will be a tough weekend. As for Beganovic, he will be trying to come back from an unlucky round in Dubai and he is definitely capable of doing so, given that he too has made significant progress in qualifying. It will also be interesting to see how Bearman gets on, as there were a lot of positives to take from his debut round. With just a few laps under his belt, he got the hang of the car, confirming his natural skill, while also showing he had prepared well.”

Programme. The final Formula Regional Asia round gets underway on Friday with two qualifying sessions (13.40 and 14.05 local, 10.40 and 11.05 CET). There’s plenty of action on Saturday, with the first race at 13.15 (10.15 CET) and Race 2 at 20 (17 CET). The final race of the championship starts on Sunday at 14.25 (11.25 CET).