13-year-old Ugo Ugochukwu has placed Nigeria on the map in one of the world’s most lucrative sports, motor racing, after his deal with British racing giant, McLaren.
Ugochukwu might only be 13 but his ability and prospect to become a legend in motorsport as well as his mastery of the kart caught the eye of McLaren who snapped the young Nigerian on a long-term deal after scouting him for a while.
Born in the USA:
Ugo Ugochuwu was born on April 23, 2007, in New York. He started racing his career in karting career six years later in 2013.
Son of a Nigerian supermodel and an Italian designer:
He is the son of Nigerian supermodel Oluchi Oweagba Orlandi who won the 1998 Face of Africa contest at the age of 16.
She married Ugochukwu’s father, Italian fashion designer – Luca Orlandi, in 2006 and shares two sons with him.
“Thank you GOD! Angels in the heavenlies Thank you! Watch over your Son. @ugougochukwu It’s beyond us,” his Nigerian mom said on her verified Instagram following the news of his contract.
Young and getting it:
Ugochukwu is only 13 but he’s been a winner since age six when he clinched his first win at the 2015 Florida Winter Tour emerging first at the competition.
On November 1, 2020, Ugochuwu won the OK-Junior European Championship and was crowned the European Federation Internationale de l’Automobile Champion.
The young motorsports driver won last year’s FIA OK-Junior European championship and has graduated to the senior class this season.
Second Nigerian in Motorsport:
Since the beginning of motor racing in the 1880s and Formula 1 in the 1920s, Ugochukwu is the second-ever Nigerian in the white-dominated sport, with the exception of Lewis Hamilton and South Africa’s over 20 representatives including, Jody Scheckter.
Ovie Ross Iroro is the first Nigerian motor racing driver to compete in both the Formula Renault and Formula Ford Championship, according to True Africa.
The Next Lewis Hamilton?
Although it is too early to burden the young lad with this much target, no one can rule out the possibility that one day, he might be the one to surpass Lewis Hamilton’s F1 record. (The British driver is not done yet by the way.)
Ugochukwu’s prospect for greatness is one of the reasons Hamilton’s old team, McLaren snapped him up and he might just follow the footstep of Hamilton who previously drove for McLaren from 2007 to 2012.
He 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. This signing reflects our refocused approach to identifying and supporting new talent, away from a formal young driver programme to a more tailored basis,” Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren F1 said.
The Mercedes Formula One star has now won a joint-record seven World Drivers’ Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), while he holds the outright records for the most wins (95), pole positions (98), and podium finishes (165), amongst others.
To be like/better than Hamilton here are the things Ugochukwu should know about Hamilton’s time as a McLaren star.
Just like the young Nigerian, Hamilton was signed to the McLaren young driver programme in 1998 at the age of 13.
This later resulted in a Formula One drive with McLaren in 2007, making Hamilton the first black driver to race in the sport. That season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion—making a crucial overtake on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest Formula One World Champion in history. After four more years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.
Should McLaren succeed in developing Ugochukwu like they did Hamilton, the world could yet have found the heir to Hamilton and Schumacher’s throne.
