Swiss F4 driver Fabio Scherer will make his F4UAE Championship debut as a new addition to the Rasgaira Motorsport driver lineup for Round 4 at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, this weekend.

While it will be Scherer’s first racing event in the Middle East, not all will be foreign to the 17-year-old, having already raced against Team Motopark’s Jonathan Aberdein – the current F4UAE Championship points leader – during last year’s ADAC Formel 4 Championship in Germany.

Scherer, a former Swiss karting champion, was a surprise race winner in 2016, claiming one victory at the Lausitzring, while finishing the season 17th overall and eighth in the rookie standings. Scherer is set to contest another season of the German F4 championship for the US Racing team, but first will gain valuable racing miles over the final eight races of the 2016/17 F4UAE season.

“It is wonderful to have more drivers come to the Middle East to improve their racing experience, because we are very proud of our Championship and that we have the best facilities at the racing circuits here in the UAE,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President of ATCUAE and Emirates Motor Sports Foundation. “I would like to welcome our new driver from Switzerland and wish everyone a successful weekend of competition at Yas Marina Circuit.”

Rasgaira Motorsport’s team principal Richard Cregan said he was excited to have Scherer part of the team, adding to the growth of the championship in general.

“It’s a real endorsement of the F4UAE championship that more and more drivers are looking to us as a real stepping stone before they do a full season of F4 in Europe,” said Cregan. “Certainly for us as a team, having another young driver with experience come to Rasgaira will only help push the team forward, which ensures we’re performing to the high level we need to support these fast drivers like Fabio.

“He’s has already done the German championship and has a race win so he’s bringing a lot of experience with him. He know what he wants, he understands the dynamics of the car, so he’ll be asking more of us than someone who is a rookie, and we’re looking forward to that challenge. It’s also great to have a professional and technical partnership with an experienced team in Germany like US Racing, which is entrusting us to prepare a car for their driver. So we’re looking forward to having him for the next two events,” said Cregan.

Heading into the penultimate round of the F4UAE Championship, Team Motopark’s Jonathan Aberdein leads the championship ahead of teammate Logan Sargeant – who also leads the rookie standings – with locally-based Sean Babington sitting third outright for Energy Dubai F4 Racing Team.

For the January event at the Dubai Autodrome, Team Motopark’s Sebastian Wahbeh became the first new driver to claim victory in the inaugural season of the Middle East’s newest open-wheeler championship, and will return again this weekend with the team's fourth driver Charles Weerts from Belgium.

For the remainder of the grid, Rasgaira’s other driver David Malukas from the USA returns fresh from his second podium finish of the season, so too does Oscar Piastri for Dragon F4, and the QMMF F4 Team of Ahmad al Muhannadi and Abdulrahman Tolefat who will both again be able to race for the new F4UAE GCC Nations Trophy award.

The penultimate round of the 2016/17 F4UAE Championship is being held this weekend at the Home of F4UAE, Yas Marina Circuit, from February 9-11. The Abu Dhabi circuit will host Races 11 to 14 of the season, along with the season finale in early March.