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Formula one racing team, McLaren have announced the signing of Nigerian– American Ugo Ugochukwu. Ugo who has been dubbed the ‘revelation’ was poached to a long term deal by the Formula one racing team at a very young age of 13 years.
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In 2013, Ugochukwu began his karting career in New York and he has continued to show his mettle leading up to his signing for the Formula one giants at the same age the legendary Lewis Hamilton was signed by then McLaren boss, Ron Dennis in 1998. The Nigerian-American won the 2020 FIA OKJ European Championship and has also won several national and international karting titles in the USA and in Europe. According to McLaren Team principal, Andreas Seidi,
‘This signing reflects our refocused approach to identifying and supporting new talent, away from a formal young driver programme to a more tailored basis. Ugo is a promising young talent with strong development prospects. While he is still early in his career, it is clear he has the ingredients to be successful in the sport.’
Unbeknownst to Ugo, he had been on the radar of the Formula one bigwig as he impressed competitively all over Europe and America especially winning the Challenge of the Americas Junior Championship and the 2020 FIA OKJ European Championship which gave more impetus to the interest McLaren had in him.
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McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, said:
‘We’ve been watching Ugo’s progress with interest, so when the opportunity to sign an agreement with him became available, we had no hesitation moving on it. Now we’ll focus on giving Ugo the right support when he needs it to help him fulfil his potential.’
Ugochukwu opined:
‘I’m honoured to be signed by such an iconic team as McLaren Racing so early in my career. To have the support of McLaren is fantastic and what any young driver dreams of. I’m focused right now on developing as a driver and racer, so having McLaren by my side can only help me on and off the track.’
There is no pressure, however, with the way Ugo is going and with McLaren, who obviously know how to groom talents, by his side, he should be destined for stardom. Featured Image Source: BBC
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This article was first published on 23rd March 2021

chidozie-ahaneku

I am a poet. I am a moderate thinker who abhors radicalism on every front and believes that most things are relative. I am a social and political critic. I love writing, reading and international politics.

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