Dubai: Peter Thompson, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of organisers Asian Autosport Action (AAA) Group, announced a 16-race calendar for the FIA Formula 4 South East Asia (F4SEA) championships.
With worldwide movement control orders relaxing slowly, Thompson assured that the Kuala Lumpur-based F4SEA will soon be in a position to ratify a shortened 2020 race calendar with all events being staged at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. For 2021, the F4 SEA plans to expand and promote Malaysian skills to new emerging territories, while returning to a 10-12 event format.
The new racing calendar has already been finalised, but it’s official announcement is pending approval from world governing body, the FIA.
“If our only achievement this year is the handing over of the champion’s trophy in December, the hard work of overcoming all obstacles in this unprecedented time to produce yet another motorsport hero will have been well-rewarded,” Thompson told Gulf News from Malaysia.
The F4 SEA is producing world-class competitors and I am convinced that at least one of our 2019 winners (Hadrien David of France, Lucca Allen of Ireland or Elias Seppänen of Finland) will go on to become a future world champion
“These are early stages and we are ready with a calendar that can be altered, if the need arises,” he added.
The proposed 16-race 2020 F4SEA Championship calendar will feature all four events in Sepang to minimise risk and at a cost-effective fee of 40,000 euros (Dhs 160,000). Formula 4 SEA is the only FIA junior driver development championship in the region with the competition ensuring a media value in excess of $20 million.
“The underlying reality is that fans will not miss a moment of action as the races will continue to be livestreamed and broadcast on the FOX network,” Thompson noted.
“In addition we have our new website and the race proceedings will be posted on various social media platforms as well so that no one will miss any of the on-track action,” he promised.
Currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of organisers Asian Autosport Action (AAA) Group, Thompson has more than three decades of dabbling in various motorsports. Owned by the successful Meritus.GP asia race team brand, AAA has spent over 20 years in the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions.
Meritus.GP has been a winner at every level of the sport, including Formula BMW, Formula Masters, Formula 3, Formula V6 Asia and in the GP2 Asia Series.
One of the FIA’s recommended first step towards a professional career pathway, the F4 SEA has already seen some of its graduates sign with the Sauber and Renault F1 junior teams.
Over the past four years, the Southeast Asian branch of the FIA’s F4 global championship has focused on creating Asian and international motorsport heroes, while training and developing Malaysians to become highly-skilled engineers and technicians.
At the 2017 Petronas Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix finale, the F4 winner was Malaysian hero Nazim Azman, who has since gone on to win in the British F3 championship.
The graduates of the prestigious Meritus.GP outfit have collectively won the triple crown of motorsport – Le Mans, Monaco and Indy 500 – and 10 drivers have so far progressed to a career in F1 racing.
“The F4 SEA is producing world-class competitors and I am convinced that at least one of our 2019 winners (Hadrien David of France, Lucca Allen of Ireland or Elias Seppänen of Finland) will go on to become a future world champion,” Thompson hoped.
