Hugo Ugochukwu wins the chaotic Macau Grand Prix

This year, the Macau Grand Prix was held in the Formula Regional World Cup format for the first time, and the winner of this prestigious competition was 17-year-old American driver Hugo Ugochukwu.

The weather factor over the weekend more than noticeably influenced the development of the events on the city ring in Macau – this was the case today. The peloton started on slicks, but the asphalt was still wet in some parts of the track, including on the start and finish straight, so the race management decided to start behind the safety car.

After one lap he turned into the pit lane and the fight started. Ugochukwu, who won yesterday’s qualifying race, took advantage of the pole position and accelerated well, but Oliver Goethe, who started from 2nd position, tried to stay close behind him but fell a little behind on the next lap.

Freddie Slater tried to attack Noel Leon at the fast Mandarin corner in the battle for 3rd position, but then chaos broke out on track when James Wharton, who was trying to take 7th place from Matteo De Palo, failed to hold on . the ART team’s car on the track and crashed into barriers on the outside of the Lisboa corner.

At the same time, Evan Gilter, his partner, came across the wreckage of his car, and Jett Bowling crashed into it from behind, and a blockage formed on the track, which also trapped Kai Darianani and Kanato Le.

Prema driver Dino Beganovic somehow managed to avoid the dangerous spot, but his teammate Alex Dunne did not and also crashed into Wharton’s Tatuus T-318. After this the race was stopped with red flags.

All cars still running returned to the pit lane – by which time they were only two laps behind. After a 22-minute break, a restart followed – and again behind the safety car.

Ugochukwu, the R-ace GP rider, was again very confident and retained the lead, while Leon attempted an attack in Lisboa, but Goethe repulsed it. By the end of the lap, Hugo had gained over a second over Oliver, but the race was neutralized again due to the accident of Chinese Richie Liu. The safety car remained on track until the seventh lap and at the restart Ugochukwu Goethe again left no chance.

By the 9th lap Hugo had increased his lead to 1.673 seconds, while at the same time setting the best lap of the race. Meanwhile, Noel Leon managed to get close to Goethe, but Oliver improved and rewrote the best lap for himself, at the same time closing the gap to the leader.

But in the 1st corner the car of the Japanese Sota Ogawa (TGM Grand Prix) stopped and the safety car had to be released again. By the time of the restart there were only two laps to go to the finish, and this time Goethe managed to stay close to Ugochukwu, but first the car of the Japanese team TOM’S was crashed by Gene Nakamura, then the MP Motorsport- driver Mattia Colnaghi had an accident and Leon crashed into the barriers at the turn to Lisboa and yellow flags appeared on the track again.

Once again the safety car came out and it became clear that the victory of Ugo Ugochukwu, the driver of the McLaren youth program, was not in danger.

Macau Grand Prix results