Ugo Ugochuckwu, the Nigerian-American racing driver, has won the 2024 FIA FR World Cup.
The 17-year-old won the crown at the 71st Macau Grand Prix on Sunday.
Ugochukwu was born in New York to Oluchi, a Nigerian fashion model mother, and Luca Orlandi, an Italian fashion designer. He represents the US in car racing.
With the victory in Macau, Ugochukwu became the first American driver to win the prestigious event in over 40 years.
Ugochukwu led the race from start to finish for R-ace GP, ahead of Olivier Goethe for MP Motorsport and Noel León for KCMG IXO by Pinnacle Motorsport.
The Nigerian-American will compete in FIA Formula 3 — the third-tier world racing championship — in 2025.
Ugochukwu credited his resilience and his confidence for the victory on the circuit.
“I can’t describe the feeling; of course, I’m super happy. It was quite a tricky race. I was pushing the whole way, but I was confident in the pace – ever since Q2, we’ve been really quick, of course, we won the Quali race as well, but there was still one more thing to do, which was win the main race, and we managed to do it,” the 17-year-old said.
“I can’t thank the R-ace GP team enough. We had a great weekend, and yeah, I’m super happy to finally get the job done.”
Ugochukwu was discovered at an early age as a car racing wunderkind. He started Kart racing, a variant of motorsport, in 2013.
Ugochukwu has been dubbed as the next Lewis Hamilton, the decorated British racer, and was snapped up by McLaren for multi-year contract in 2021.