South Africa's Jonathan Aberdein kept his perfect Formula 4 UAE campaign intact when he dominated all three races of the first round of the series at the Dubai Autodrome Friday and Saturday. Cape Town racer Aberdein, who is using the Gulf series to build up experience in the lead up to his second season in the ADAC German Formula 4 championship in 2017, added the weekend's victories to his previous three wins in Abu Dhabi's Trophy race last month."That was a great weekend all-round," Jonathan admitted. "It really couldn't have gone much better." The Fresnaye lad put it on pole position before driving to a 1.5 second lights-to-flag victory over teammate, American driver Logan Sargeant, with Brit Sean Babington third, but the second race started off a reverse grid was the highlight of Aberdein's weekend.

"I had a good start and soon made my way up to second." Jonathan explained. "Then I put in a few quick laps to catch the leader before making a move up the inside of turn 1 to take the lead and before driving away to win." He set the fastest lap of the weekend and ended up five-seconds clear of Sargeant, with Babington third again, but teammate Sargeant made Aberdein work for his third-race win, ending up half a second adrift, with Irishman James Roe third.

Sargeant also posted the fastest lap in the final race, just a few hundredths of a second quicker than Aberdein, to prevent the South African from racking up the 100% wrap of pole position, and all three fastest laps and race wins. "We came here to learn and prepare for next year's ADAC series, so to win has been a huge bonus and confidence builder," Jonathan smiled in conclusion. "I'd like to think that our plan is coming together! "Thanks for everyone who has helped make this possible - Tram Motopark and my dad in particular."

Formula 4 UAE heads to Abu Dhabi for round 2 over the weekend of 16-17 December.