Aussie talent Hughes off to flying start in the States

It is a big year for talented Aussie export Lachlan Hughes and he has started it with a near-perfect performance on the streets of St Petersburg.

After taking four wins on his way to third in the USF2000 Championship last year, Hughes has stepped up to the next level the USF Pro 2000 Championship – a key ingredient on the Road to Indy.

Despite the challenges, the 21-year-old Gold Coast product proved he is a rookie to watch by finishing first and second.

As a result Hughes walked away from his USF Pro 2000 Championship debut as the points leader and he was thrilled with the dream start to life in the new series and new team Turn 3 Motorsport.

“This is a great start to the year,” Hughes told AUTO ACTION.

“It is always hard to tell being at a new team in a new series, moving up a level and driving a new car.

“But I felt really positive from testing and gelled with the team very quickly.

“We had an almost perfect weekend. We won the opener and could have also won that second race if it wasn’t for the safety car.”

Hughes’ USF Pro 2000 debut could not have gone much better, having taken pole by a commanding three tenths of a second ahead of Turn 3 teammate Danny Dyszelski.

The Aussie then controlled the stop start opener, despite the race being constantly interrupted by stoppages, including an early red flag.

He won the by nine tenths ahead of Christian Brooks as it ended under Safety Car.

Hughes again looked strong in race 2 as the #44 charged into the lead once again.

Lochie Hughes celebrates his St Petersburg victory. Image: Supplied

However, his advantage was wiped out by two yellows within 10 laps of each other.

At the final restart Hughes had “no grip under brakes” and slid wide and sacrificed P1. Despite leading 20 of the 25 laps, he had to settle for second behind Nikita Johnson.

“We pulled a big gap at the start and we led all the way up to lap 20 when we had another Safety Car,” Hughes recalled.

“At the restart I went into turn 1 and had to defend and there was no grip under brakes so I slid wide and lost the lead.

“There were only four laps left, I tried hard to get him back but we were running bit more trim and burnt the rear tyres.

“I almost crashed a couple of times and it is quite hard to pass and follow so just focused on bringing it home.”

To start so well is an impressive effort for Hughes, who had to overcome an injury across the summer.

Lachlan Hughes on his way to victory at St Petersburg.

“The biggest thing was I actually had an injury in the off season and had to have surgery,” he said.

“I was suffering a lot of arm pump towards the end of last year which was quite strange and I had compartment syndrome.

“We got that fixed and I was anxious about it but it was all fine.”

Reflecting on the differences between the USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 cars, Hughes said the new Continental tyre has helped him adjust with the extra downforce.

“I had to adjust to the new car which I had not really driven but there was also a new tyre which actually helped me a little bit,” he said.

“I had no bad habits from the previous tyre in the pro car so it did not feel too different to the USF2000.

“You can carry a lot more speed and hit the pedal harder with the downforce and after getting used to that across a few sessions, we were flying.”

Having already won the USF4 Championship, performed in USF2000, Hughes is hoping a victorious 2024 can springboard him to IndyNXT.

“The plan is to keep winning,” he said.

“I feel like since I have moved to the US I have won in everything I have sat in and hope to continue to do that to convince teams I am the man you want. It is hard to do that especially with limited support from Australia.

“The plan is to win this year’s championship and get a good IndyNXT seat for next year.”

The next USF Pro 2000 Championship round is at NOLA Motorsports Park on April 5-7, a circuit where Hughes topped pre-season testing.

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