Hughes has a 50-point lead in the USF PRO 2000 Championship after he dominated at Elkhart Lake in Wisconsin. Driving for Illinois-based Turn 3 Motorsport, Hughes from the Gold Coast, came into Races 11, 12 and 13 one point off the lead.
“You can’t really ask for more than that. After the troubles at Nola and everything, to bounce back in the championship like this and be on the run we are on is great. Hopefully we can just keep this momentum going to Mid-Ohio and the rest of the season,” said Hughes.
He has a clear lead in his quest for the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire Championship and a scholarship valued at $681,500 to graduate to INDY NXT in 2025.
He drew level with the points leader when he secured pole position for the first race. In Race 1 he was passed at the first corner before he took the lead back a lap later. Near the end, rain began to fall, particularly at the Carousel corner on the final lap where Hughes went defensive to maintain the lead and won.
In Race 2 he lost a place from qualifying second on the opening lap after which, he worked his way forward to the front on Lap 11 and controlled the remainder of the 15-lapper. In the last, immediately after a restart on Lap 6, he held off the challenges to secure his third win.
In USF 2000 which complements USF PRO 2000, Quinn Armstrong (DEForce Racing) and Xavier (VRD Racing) had less success. Armstong qualified 17th and 16th for the two races where he finished 20th in both. Kokai started 13th and 17th respectively and finished 16th and 13th.
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At Formula Regional European Championship third round at Zandvoort, James Wharton managed hit the top of qualifying on his final lap and edged out his Prema Racing’s teammate by just 0.067s.
He off track at Turn 3 and rejoined in 16th. which came under investigation later and cost the Australian driver a three-place grid drop for the next race. He finished 13th and in Race 2 he didn’t figure much better after contact with another driver who finished seventh while Wharton was 14th.
In Eurocup-3, Campos Racing Noah Lisle was eighth in the first race before, he was able to gain a top three after the last safety car.
However, the Australian’s line into a corner force another driver off the track. As a result, he was penalised and lost his third place. Lisle was a non-finisher in Race 3 where he was beached in the gravel and brought out the race’s second safety car.
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