Harri Jones has continued his good form in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East – securing a double podium in the fourth round of the season.
 
Coming off the back of two wins in the previous round, Jones was highly consistent all weekend at the Dubai Autodrome and qualified on pole for race one and second for race two.
 
However, Jones was unable to convert his pole position into a race win as Ghislain Cordeel overtook him midway through the race and held him off for the remaining laps.
 
It was quite a performance from the Belgian, who sustained tyre damage in the final stages of the race, yet still managed to reach the finish line just ahead of a stubborn Jones as just under two tenths separated the two in the end.
 
Rounding out the podium was series leader Ariel Levi, who finished a further seven tenths behind.
 
In the second and final race of the weekend, Cordeel was far more dominant as he led from lights to flag, while Jones found himself in an entertaining tussle with Levi.
 
Finishing five seconds behind the winner, Jones prevailed in his battle with Levi with just two tenths separating the Aussie and the Israelian.
 
With just two rounds to go in the season, Jones now sits third overall and trails Levi by 59 points – an impressive effort considering the Queenslander has missed a round.
 
The next round of the season will be at the Bahrain International Circuit as part of Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Formula 4 UAE Championship

James Wharton has had a highly productive round in the 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship’s second consecutive visit to Kuwait Motor Town, picking up three podiums from three races.
 
Highlighted by a win in the final race of the round, Wharton managed to close the gap on championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu with now just 10 points separating the two after three rounds.
 
Showing solid pace right from the get-go, Wharton managed a front row start in both qualifying sessions, which included the fastest time in the second session – earning him a pole position for the final race.
 
Safety cars were aplenty in the round’s first two races, including the opener where Wharton threw everything he could at Ugochukwu throughout, but couldn’t get the job done – instead settling for second place.
 
Wharton started the second race on pole courtesy of posting the fastest lap in race one but lost his lead on the second last lap to fellow Ferrari Driver Academy driver Tuukka Taponen despite having held him off during the multiple safety car restarts.
 
The Victorian wouldn’t let history repeat itself in the finale and took out the win. Although he lost his lead early in the opener, he wrestled himself back into the lead and held it as the race finished under caution.
 
Helping his cause was an incident between Ugochukwu and Taponen, which sent the two title contenders tumbling down the order and towards the back of the field.

Just 10 points separates Wharton with Ugochukwu ahead of the penultimate round in Dubai.
 
As for the other Australians running at the round, last week it was Noah Lisle who picked up his best result for the year, this week it was Jimmy Piszcyk – who finished sixth in the final race.
 
Before that, the New South Welshman had notched up a P14 and P15 in the first two races, while Lisle finished lower down the order before placing P12 in the last outing.
 
Jack Beeton had a tough round behind the wheel, with his best result being P25 in the opening race.
 
The 2023 Formula 4 UAE Championship is back again in action this weekend with the Dubai Autodrome on 11-12 February.