Filipino racer Zach David started strong in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship as he finished P2 in collision-filled race 2 to clinch a debut podium on Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit.

David finished P8 in race 1 and therefore qualified as P3 for race 2’s reverse grid order.

He launched an outside attack in the early minutes, and successfully swiped P2 from Alexander Abkhazava and P4-sitter Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in a three-way battle.

Abkhazava briefly regained his position, but David was quick to squeeze in when the Pinnacle Motorsport driver ran wide.

After the race was yellow flagged and a safety car was deployed for about a third of the race, David was able to defend his position until he crossed the finish line 0.879 seconds behind Mumbai Falcon’s Arvid Lindblad who started on pole.

“I think the start was pretty decent. I was able to get to second right before the safety car. And then from then just tried to keep the pressure on Arvid… but in the end he did it so we had to settle for second,” he said post-race.

In race 3, David converted his P12 qualifying result into a P10 finish.

FRMEC’s round 2 will commence on January 19-21 in the same circuit.

David is set to compete for R-ace GP until the third round.

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