Rashid Al Dhaheri has become the first Emirati driver to win a race in the FIA Formula Regional European Championship.
The UAE driver took victory in Race 2 of the opening round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, after a strong drive from 11th on the grid in the reverse-grid race.
Al Dhaheri, racing for R-ace GP in Yas Heat Racing colours, was classified first after Dion Gowda received a five-second penalty for a false start. Gowda had crossed the line first on the road, but the penalty dropped him to sixth.
That should not take much away from Al Dhaheri’s drive.
The Mercedes-AMG F1 junior had already put himself in position to win. He moved through the field, managed his Race Mode push-to-pass allocation, and passed Reza Seewooruthun on the penultimate lap.
Seewooruthun finished second, while Alex Ninovic completed the podium.
It capped a strong weekend for Al Dhaheri, who had already finished second in Race 1 after leading for part of the race. In that opener, Kean Nakamura-Berta took the win for Prema Racing, with Al Dhaheri second for R-ace GP.
The Red Bull Ring round marked the start of the new FIA Formula Regional European Championship, which sits between Formula 4 and FIA Formula 3 on the FIA single-seater pathway. The championship uses the second-generation Tatuus T-326 car, with a Race Mode system that gives drivers extra power for limited periods during a race.
Al Dhaheri said the work achieved after Race 1 helped shape the victory.
“The journey we’ve had this weekend, and the work we were able to do after Race 1 from understanding what strategically we can do with push-to-pass, helped us to have this amazing win.”
“We were able to do a really good job and it shows that hard work and strategic thinking can pay off.”
Mercedes-AMG F1 Junior Programme adviser Stéphane Guérin also praised the performance, calling it “really impressive” after Al Dhaheri’s series of overtakes.
The result gives UAE motorsport another marker at international level. Al Dhaheri, who came through karting and has long been one of the country’s most closely watched young racing drivers, now has an FIA Formula Regional win to his name.
The championship continues at Zandvoort in the Netherlands from May 21 to 24.
