THE BATTLE OF BANGSAEN BEGINS

The third round of the F4 South East Asia Championship heads to the fabulous street circuit at Bangsaen on the east of Thailand, one of the most glamourous motorsport location in South East Asia. It’s the first time single seaters have been included on the bill alongside the regular sportscars and tin tops, and this promises to become another jewel in the crown for single seater feeder racing after Macau in November, and the now sadly defunct Pau street circuit in the spring time.

Alex Sawer comes into the weekend unbeaten in the first six races of the championship. Another double win on the streets of Bangsaen could effectively put the title out of reach for his opponents, but his EvansGP team-mate Seth Gilmore has been getting ever closer to sealing his first win and won’t be backing down from the challenge to make it happen on the streets of Thailand. The third car for the squad will once again be driven by Thomas Yu Lee, the sole Masters competitor on the grid.

After a solid debut in Buriram, young Ayrton Asdathorn is threatening to become the next big race challenger in the series with he and his fellow countryman Worapong Aiemwichan hoping to give the home crowd something to cheer about this weekend for the Star Performance team. The BlackArts team are not holding back though, and we can expect both Inigo Anton and Rishon Rajeev to continue their early season promise and attempt to step up to the victory.

Joshua Berry will return for another chance at a solid finish as the young Singaporean improves with every meeting, and it's good to see Vietnam's Ben Nguyen back in the paddock again for this round. Wang Zhongwei completes the field after a fairly busy few weeks for the Origine Motorsport team who have been tasting success in the neighbouring China GT Championship.

In a busy schedule for the Bangsaen Grand Prix, F4 action begins on Friday with practice and qualifying. In a change to the format there will only be two races for the competitors – one on Saturday and one on Sunday which means there cannot be any room for error and drivers will have to make every advantage count.

You can watch all the action live on the F4 South East Asia Championship and Thailand Super Series YouTube channels.