James Wharton and Jack Beeton have led the Aussie charge in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend, picking up valuable points in their respective championships.
 
Wharton was one of two Australians in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship’s season opener at Yas Marina Circuit, ending the event in seventh place on the standings.
 
The Victorian had a solid start to his first race in the category, qualifying third, however he fell behind Danish driver Martinius Stenshorne throughout the outing to cross the line in fourth.


Unfortunately, a crash in the second race saw him classified down the order in 24th, but the teenager didn’t lose hope as he charged through the field in the final affair to finish seventh – the same position he now occupies on the overall standings. 

Also running the Formula Regional Middle East Championship was New South Welshman Costa Toparis, who unfortunately missed out on scoring any points across the three races.
 
Like Wharton, Toparis debuted in the series, but was unable to make up any ground as he finished the round with his best result of 18th. Earlier on in the weekend, Toparis picked up a 21st and 25th.


As for the Formula 4 UAE Championship, Beeton ended his weekend at the same circuit in seventh place having been the only Aussie to secure a podium across both competitions.
 
One of three Australians racing for AGI Sport, the Queenslander qualified just outside the top 10 and finished the opening race in 12th – earning him pole position for the category’s reverse grid race.
 
Beeton was on track to convert that pole position into the win and had done a fantastic job in keeping the lead through the race, only for a late safety car intervention to bring the field back together as race then restarted with one lap to go.
 
Although Beeton almost got away with defending his place, he was unable to hold onto it successfully, ultimately falling behind both Kean Nakamura-Berta and Deagen Fairclough to reach the chequered flag in third.
 
Beeton had a tough outing in the final race and finished 27th overall, while his AGI Sport teammates Nicholas Stati and Peter Bouzinelos also had a challenging debut in the UAE.


Neither driver was able to score points in the three races, with Bouzinelos finishing the weekend higher up the standings after recording a top 20 finish in the final race, two places ahead of Stati in 21st.
 
Apart from Beeton, the best performing Aussie in the F4 Championship’s season opener was Kamal Mrad, who showed plenty of promise on the final day of the round.
 
Starting race two from P27, Mrad navigated his way through the field to finish 16th before making up another six positions in race three to cross the line in 13th after starting from P19.
 
All six drivers will be back in action this weekend with the second round of both championships to take place at Yas Marina Circuit again.