NEWS

Stellar international entry for F4 South East Asia Championship Malaysian double-header finale

Nov 24,2023

Re-energized championship continues ascent after revamp
Six races to decide title at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia
Three continents represented in impressive international field

Sepang, Malaysia (November 23, 2023) – The Formula 4 South East Asia Championship (F4SEA) continues a thrilling maiden season since its revamp with three races this weekend, followed by a season-closing trio of sprints at the former Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix venue of Sepang International Circuit, with 19 cars run by seven different teams featuring some of the most exciting of the world’s up-and-coming racing talent.

A highly eventful opening round at the Zhuzhou circuit in China was followed by the prestige of an invitational, non-championship event acting as the curtain raiser to the Macau Grand Prix. It is a Macau driver, Tiago Rodrigues, who leads the standings, but he is not travelling to Malaysia, which leaves Australian Jack Beeton well and truly in the driving seat.

Beeton, who has just turned 16 years old since his last race outing, has spent his rookie season of car racing largely in Europe. He was on top form at Zhuzhou with Australian team AGI Sport, which is making a return to FIA F4 competition, and won two races – only a roll in the other race left him a point adrift of Rodrigues in the points table. He went on to add impressive fourth and fifth-place finishes in Macau. For the first time, Beeton will benefit from having team-mates alongside him in the AGI stable at Sepang. Peter Bouzinelos is taking his first overseas steps in car racing following F4 experience in Australia, and karter Nicolas Stati is joining them.

Kevin Xiao Kunpeng was the winner of the other race at Zhuzhou. The Chinese driver sits just seven points adrift of Beeton in the standings, and will be hoping to challenge for podiums again with Asia Racing Team. Chinese Taipei’s Enzo Yeh continues alongside Xiao at the squad following a promising debut outing in Macau that netted two top-10 finishes, with Filipino Christopher Garrido lining up for his F4 debut.

It was Prema Racing that dominated in Macau, with Arvid Lindblad leading a 1-2-3 for the Italian powerhouse in both races. Lindblad is now focusing on his step up to FIA Formula 3 for next season, leaving Prema to field an all-new line-up for Sepang. Two of them are star karters making their single-seater debuts, but the other comes from the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours: Frenchwoman Doriane Pin made waves this season in the LMP2 class, claiming ninth in the points on her graduation as a champion of the Ferrari one-make series in Europe in 2022. Alongside her is Anglo-Japanese talent Kean Nakamura-Berta, who is a protégé of the Alpine F1 team, as well as Latvian Tomass Štolcermanis. Both have made positive impressions on the European karting scene this season, and all the Prema drivers will be ones to watch.

The French R-ace GP operation will be a force to be reckoned with too. Hadrien David was runner-up in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2021, and only an unfortunate crash removed him from the battle for honours in Macau. Joining him is fellow Frenchman Raphaël Narac who, like David, scored a seventh place around the Guia Circuit last time out.

Pinnacle Motorsport brings Liu Kai Shun, the Hong Kong driver who was runner-up to Rodrigues in this year’s Chinese F4 Championship but had an unlucky outing in Macau, and Indian Kai Daryanani, who has raced in British F4 this season and scored a top-10 result on the Guia track. Fu Yuhao of China also joins the rollcall at the team.

Local enthusiasts at the Sepang International Circuit are bound to be cheering for Alister Yoong. The son of Malaysia’s former Grand Prix racer Alexander Yoong was twice a race winner in the previous era of F4 SEA. Yoong is still only 20 years old and is on board with BlackArts Racing alongside Indian Arjun Chheda, who made his F4 debut in his domestic championship last month, and UAE driver John Loggie.

R&B Racing will also be hoping for a strong showing in Sepang. The team is fielding a solo entry for China’s Wang Zhongwei, who peaked with fourth place in the opening round at Zhuzhou and is fifth in the championship standings.