Prema’s Ugochukwu takes double podium finish in Misano
Another brilliant weekend for the 16-year-old, as he concludes the second round of the F4 Italian Championship with a total of 81 points and a second place in the championship standings.
Ugochuckwu’s weekend started out strong, scoring the fastest lap overall during the two sessions of collective testing, stopping the clock at 1’34:689. A good first Free Practice session on Friday has seen the American take home the seventh best time overall on Friday morning and another quick chrono in the afternoon session, before heading out for the qualifying session the following day.
A very positive first qualifying session kept the good rhythm alive, as the McLaren racing junior closed the morning with the fifth quickest time, earning a third-row start in Race 1 on Saturday morning. Thanks to an even faster time recorded in the second session of qualifying in the afternoon, Ugo locked in a P2 start for Race 2.
Race 1 saw the Prema driver circulating at a very consistent pace, taking a final P6 finish. Joining Race 2 very much hungry for more, Ugochukwu took advantage of a well-deserved P2 start to chase his first official podium of the weekend, on which he eventually stood at the end of the race, terminating in P3 just behind Aussie teammate Wharton and victorious championship leader Lindblad.
The final race of the weekend got the top three slightly shuffled, with a 1-2 for the Italian team thanks to a second place taken by Ugochukwu, who closed the up the points gap to the current championship leader taking P1 in the same race. Maltese driver Zachary David for US Racing completed the Top 3 in Race 3.
Mixed feelings for the New Yorker, still not satisfied with an already solid performance throughout the weekend:
“I feel like I maximized what I could do in the last race, and overall two podiums out of three races it’s not bad. I wanted a bit more, but it was definitely still a solid weekend and we will push for more in Spa. Big thanks to the whole Prema Team for the hard work done this weekend!”
The third round of the F4 Italian Championship will take place in Belgium’s Spa Francorchamps, between the 26th-28th of May, 2023. If you missed out on the events in Misano, check out the recorded streams of the three races right here.
