Ugochukwu takes FRegional World Cup by winning the Macau GP

Photo: Macau Grand Prix

Ugo Ugochukwu became the first victor of the FIA Formula Regional World Cup by winning the 2024 Macau Grand Prix.

The field headed out for the main race on slick tyres, but as the track was wet, and in different areas on the pit straight, it was decided there would be no formation lap and instead a standing start with lap one run behind the safety car.

KCMG by Pinnacle Motorsport’s Noel Leon was slow off the line from third but able to get going before being passed. R-ace GP’s poleman Ugochuckwu accelerated to racing speeds as early as possible, and MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe stuck with him in second until the final corner where he lost ground and began lap two 0.895 seconds behind.

At Mandarin there was an attempted move by Prema’s Freddie Slater on Leon, then there was chaos at Lisboa as ART Grand Prix’s James Wharton tried going side-by-side with PHM Racing’s Matteo De Palo.

Wharton ploughed into the outside barriers, with team-mate Evan Giltaire picking up damage and trundling to the next corner while Kiwi Motorsport’s Jett Bowling drove straight into the back of Wharton and Kai Daryanani (Evans GP) and Kanato Le (ART GP) ended up stuck either side of him.

Prema’s Dino Beganovic flicked his car past Wharton’s, and team-mate Alex Dunne tried the same but struck Wharton and in the subequent red flag period Prema had to make repairs.

Drivers headed to the pits rather than form up again on the grid, with two laps considered complete and the order taken from that point when the safety car eventually led the field out of the pits for lap three after a 22-minute break.

Racing resumed at the end of the lap and Ugochukwu repeated his earlier trick. Leon attempted passing Goethe at Lisboa but had to back out, and Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael got very close to the barriers when trying to overtake PHM Racing’s Rashid Al Dhaheri for seventh.

Ugochukwu was 1.2s clear of Goethe by the end of the lap, but racing was neutralised again due to PHM’s Ruiqi Liu crashing. The safety car stayed out until the end of lap seven, and Ugochukwu again made a big jump on Goethe.

De Palo attacked R-ace GP’s Enzo Deligny at Reservoir, and Leon had a huge lock-up at Lisboa but the field got through safely. The gap between the top two was 0.984s after a lap of racing, with Leon further back fending off Slater.

Ugochukwu set the fastest lap and grew his lead to 1.673s on lap nine, while Leon closed back in on Goethe and MP’s Valerio Rinicella fell down the order from 13th after scraping the barriers at turn 22.

Goethe responded by taking the fastest lap and reducing Ugochukwu’s advantage to 1.52s, then TGM Grand Prix’s Sota Ogawa stopped after Reservoir and the safety was needed again. Nael pitted due to receiving a black-and-orange flag (but infringed rules when doing so), and dropped to 18th for the restart with two laps to go.

Goethe kept with Ugochukwu this time, as Jin Nakamura (TOM’S) in 10th crashed before even returning to racing speeds, and they entered the final lap 1.058s apart. Yellow flags were waving soon after as MP’s Mattia Colnaghi crashed out of 13th at turn 22, and Slater dived down the inside of Leon at Lisboa and straight into the barriers.

Safety car boards were shown before the leaders reached Colnaghi’s car, and Ugochukwu’s win was secured.

Evans GP’s Cooper Webster, who started 15th rather than sixth after being penalised five seconds following the grid-setting qualification race, made it all the way back up to seventh by passing Dunne late on and KCMG by Pinnacle’s Mari Boya came from the last on the grid to finish ninth.

Race results (15 laps)