UGOCHUKWU BACK ON THE PODIUM AT PAUL RICARD
The Paul Ricard round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine comes to a close.
The weekend began well for Ugo Ugochukwu as he set off for the first round of qualifying, held on Saturday morning, determined to build on the promising pace shown in the previous rounds.
Credit: Gregory Heirman
Ugo would be in group B and as the qualifying session progressed, the McLaren Junior set strong lap times, placing himself around the top five for most of the session, improving to fourth on his last attempt, meaning Ugochukwu would start the first race from P8.
Starting from 8th, Ugochukwu had a quiet race, finishing 9th on track but later classified in 10th after receiving a penalty post-race.
Credit: Gregory Heirman
Undeterred, Ugo took to the track for the second qualifying session on Sunday morning to further improve his weekend.
Despite the damp conditions, and a spin early in the session, the 17-year-old American was immediately on pace, setting the fourth best lap for most of the session, improving to third in the closing stages, giving him an even better starting position than the day before.
Race two of the weekend was held on a fresh Sunday afternoon in damp conditions and Ugo made the most of his sixth place starting position, avoiding spins and overtaking fellow front-runners on his way to his second podium of the season, in P2.
Credit: Gregory Heirman
In Ugo’s own words: “We came back stronger on Sunday, taking P3 in our group in mixed conditions, and then in the race, I managed to feel very comfortable with the car, going from P6 all the way to P2.”
“I’m very happy to end the first part of the season with another podium and we hope to come back stronger after in the next round at Imola after a small break.”
Credit: Gregory Heirman
A step in the right direction for Ugo Ugochukwu who looks to improve on his strong form into the final part of 2024. Relive last weekend’s action on the FRECA YouTube channel, and make sure not to miss the next round at Imola, on September 7-8!
Header image credit: Gregory Heirman
