Opening FRME weekend brings a valuable start to the season for VAR at Yas Marina

Van Amersfoort Racing completed the opening round of the 2026 Formula Regional Middle East Trophy at the Yas Marina Circuit, marking the first race weekend of the season for the team and its drivers.

With Francisco Macedo, Dion Gowda and Felix Fu all lining up on a highly competitive grid, the opening weekend was focused on getting up to speed quickly, working closely together as a team and building a solid base for the season ahead.

Francisco showed encouraging progress across the three races, with his strongest result coming in race two, where he finished seventh to score his first points of the season. Across the weekend, he and the team continued to improve session by session, building consistency over race distance.

Dion made steady gains throughout the round. After a challenging opening race, he moved forward in races two and three, finishing 13th and 11th respectively, just outside the points positions. The weekend provided valuable information and a clear direction to build on going into the next round.

For Felix, the opening round marked his first race weekend at Formula Regional level. The focus was on learning and gaining experience, with clear steps forward made across the sessions and important mileage completed in race conditions.

Daniëlle Geel – Formula Regional Team Manager, Van Amersfoort Racing:
“The first weekend is always about understanding where you are and how to move forward together. All three drivers approached the weekend with a good mindset, worked closely with the team and made progress across the races. Yas Marina gave us a lot of useful information and we’re looking forward to building on this as the season continues.”

With the opening round now complete, Van Amersfoort Racing turns its focus to the next event of the Formula Regional Middle East Trophy, continuing its work with the drivers and building step by step as a team.

About Van Amersfoort Racing
Van Amersfoort Racing is a professional racing team based in the Netherlands. It was founded by Frits van Amersfoort in 1975. Since then, Van Amersfoort Racing has built a long tradition of supporting up-and-coming drivers on their way to higher levels. Drivers like Max and Jos Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher, Kevin Magnussen, and Liam Lawson all raced for Frits van Amersfoort's team in the early stages of their careers before making it into Formula 1.

Photography by Dutch Photo Agency