JEDDAH: Austrian driver Marlon Bayer claimed victory this weekend as the 2026 Aramco F4 Saudi Arabian Championship got underway at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Saturday.
Bayer, driving for Wrap & Fly, led from the start and held off Harrison Mackie of iCONNA by Aramco Digital to take the chequered flag ahead of the Briton. Welsh driver Archie Owen of 7.23 Racing finished third, 4.301 seconds behind Bayer.
Owen initially moved into second after passing Mackie on the opening lap, but Mackie reclaimed the position midway through the race as Bayer extended his lead at the front.
The race featured 15 drivers, with Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Kamel finishing seventh after starting eighth and briefly moving as high as sixth.
Faris Organji also made progress from ninth on the grid and reached seventh before a contact incident forced him into the pits with a puncture. He eventually finished 15th.
Devin Walz, who started sixth, also made a pit stop and finished 14th, while Hamza Alfayez recorded the biggest gain of the race, climbing from 12th to ninth.
Bayer had also topped Qualifying 2 earlier on Saturday, setting the fastest lap of 2 minutes, 7.738 seconds. He finished 0.276 seconds ahead of Mackie, with Owen third, Lucas Nanji fourth and Amin Kara Osman fifth.
Following the race, Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and Saudi Motorsport Company, praised the level of competition and the championship’s role in developing young drivers and other motorsport talent.
“We are pleased with the strong competition and impressive performances we have seen from the drivers, which reflect the value of the Aramco F4 Saudi Arabian Championship and the efforts of ALTAWKILAT Motorsport in organising the championship and providing a competitive environment that gives young talent the opportunity to develop and gain experience in a professional setting,” he said.
“We are proud of the Saudi presence on the grid, and equally proud of the national talent working behind the scenes across technical and organisational disciplines. Our aim is for the championship to continue creating opportunities for Saudi youth, whether behind the wheel or across the wider motorsport ecosystem.”
The championship is organised by ALTAWKILAT Motorsport, with the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation acting as sporting regulator.
Round 2 will return to Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 7-8, before the championship moves to Lusail International Circuit in Qatar in December. Four of the opening rounds are being held in Jeddah.
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