Second victory of the season for Ugochukwu
Another very strong weekend for American rising star Ugo Ugochukwu, as he takes the top step of the podium in Race 3 of the third round of the 2023 F4 Italian Championship.
An impressive performance for the New York-born driver, who takes home a victory after starting P6 in the last race of the weekend, making his way through the field and overtaking the likes of teammate and Ferrari Driver Academy member James Wharton, as well as a hard charging Zachary David (driving for German team U.S. Racing) to take the lead.
The McLaren Junior started his weekend off with a strong pace, claiming the sixth fastest time in the first session of qualifying, just 0.687 behind the leader. A very similar performance followed in the second qualifying session of the day, ensuring some good starting positions for the upcoming races.
A very eventful race, to say the least, opened the weekend at Spa Francorchamps. In fact, just a couple of minutes into Race 1, where Ugochukwu started in P6, the Red Flag was unfolded, due to a crash involving multiple drivers. As soon as the field was cleared from debris, the American took on the mission to charge through the field, and managed to get back up in third position.
Unfortunately, Ugo’s chase of the lead was cut short due to another collision between drivers in the midfield, which ultimately signed the premature end of the race, and reinstated the final classification as of the last lap before the red flag was shown, meaning Ugochukwu was officially awarded with fourth position only.
The action was back on for Race 2, with the Prema Racing driver starting and finishing in fourth row despite a showing promising pace, as the racing time was once again cut severely short by yet another massive collision on track, causing a red flag.
The 16-year-old did not get although discouraged, as he took on an almighty mission to make up a total of 5 positions in what would eventually become a 20-minutes long Race 3, as also the last round was cut short in order to respect the 6pm racing curfew at the Belgian international racing circuit.
An extraordinary effort which gifted a very well-deserved win and a second place in the championship standings to the young star, proving once again his talent and stamina on track.
The grid of the F4 Italian Championship will be back racing for the fourth round taking place in Monza, between the 23-25th of June 2023.
If you missed out on any of this weekend’s races, make sure to visit the F4 Italian Championship’s YouTube Channel, to re-live the excitement of the past weekend’s races.
