By Thomas Miles
Date posted: 8 March 2026
American Ugo Ugochukwu took his maiden F3 win in fine style in a Feature Race that did not feature Aussie James Wharton or Kiwi Louis Sharp.
Having won the Formula Regional Championship in New Zealand recently, Ugochukwu carried on his Trans-Tasman love affair by racing his way to victory in the a franetic Albert Park Feature.
His moves ensured Freddie Slater had to settle for second, while Taito Kato joined them on the podium after Theophile Nael suffered a penalty.
On the eve of the race, Prema announced that tangling teammates Wharton and Sharp had withdrawn from the remainder of the weekend following their controversial Sprint Race clash.
As a result, Heuzenroder carried the hopes of the home crowd and did a strong job, finishing a respectable 17th, considering he started 24th and is just a fill-in.
Freddie Slater got a strong launch and immediately challenged Nael, but he held on amid the squeeze into Turn 1, only to later receive a 5s penalty for moving in the
However, Ugochukwu was flying and used DRS to steal second from Slater at Turn 9.
The Campos Racing American star needed just two laps to catch Nael and produce a battle for the lead.
Once again Turn 9 was Ugochukwu’s target of choice and he repeated the move to snare the lead.
Further back there was some intense racing to get into the top five.
Kato made a sweeping move around the outside of Colnaghi at Turn 9, only for the latter to fight back by performing a synchronised dive with Stormsted at Turn 11.
Badoer in the thick of the fight, swapping stints in fifth with Larcorte.
However, the son of former Ferrari F1 driver threw away his good work with a spin at the final corner.
At the same moment, a Safety Car was required due to Bhirombakdi beaching it in the Turn 12 gravel.
At the restart, Ugochukwu established his dominance over Narl and Slater, shooting 5s clear, while Giusti lost touch with top 10 by spearing off at Turn 3. Garfias also had an off-track moment at Turn 12.
The fight for third exploded by Lap 15 as the charging Lacorte was flying and caught and passed Slater with a smart dive at Turn 11.
Two laps later, Gladysz tried to perform the same move on Slater, but it was Stromsted who made the most ground and pounced on the exit to secure fifth.
Stromsted and Lacorte carried on battling at Turn 11, but an extremely aggressive defence by the latter at corner exit left the #29 with significant front wing damage as he dropped to the back of the top 10.
To make matters worse for the damaged Lacorte, he also received a 5s penalty for moving before the start signal.
However, Stromsted was slapped with a 10s penalty for the bold manoeuvre.
Slater emerged from the battles in a strong spot and caught Nael to ignite a battle for second.
The Trident driver performed the slingshot around the outside down the back straight to secure second.
It was well timed as a Safety Car was deployed on Lap 21 for the stopped Woohyun Shin at In Her Corner after a hit with the wall at the previous bend.
Before the stoppage, Matteo De Palo also had a spin after a clash with Badoer in the cark park.
The race ended under the control of the Safety Car, which was brilliant for Ugochukwu and Slater, but devastating for Nael and Stromsted.
Due to the compressed pack, their time penalties saw them slip from top four places to outside the top 10.
Kato and Bruno De Palo were promoted to the podium as a result.
Heuzenroeder also stayed out of trouble to secure a strong 17th.
F3 is scheduled to return at the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 11-12.
Supercars is up next before F2 and F1 take centre stage on Sunday.
Photo by Quinn Rooney/LAT Images
Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE
Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE
Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here, or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.
Recent Stories
array (
0 =>
WP_Term::__set_state(array(
‘term_id’ => 660,
‘name’ => ‘International’,
‘slug’ => ‘international’,
‘term_group’ => 0,
‘term_taxonomy_id’ => 660,
‘taxonomy’ => ‘category’,
‘description’ => ”,
‘parent’ => 0,
‘count’ => 2898,
‘filter’ => ‘raw’,
‘cat_ID’ => 660,
‘category_count’ => 2898,
‘category_description’ => ”,
‘cat_name’ => ‘International’,
‘category_nicename’ => ‘international’,
‘category_parent’ => 0,
)),
1 =>
WP_Term::__set_state(array(
‘term_id’ => 11,
‘name’ => ‘Latest News’,
‘slug’ => ‘latest-news’,
‘term_group’ => 0,
‘term_taxonomy_id’ => 11,
‘taxonomy’ => ‘category’,
‘description’ => ”,
‘parent’ => 0,
‘count’ => 17720,
‘filter’ => ‘raw’,
‘cat_ID’ => 11,
‘category_count’ => 17720,
‘category_description’ => ”,
‘cat_name’ => ‘Latest News’,
‘category_nicename’ => ‘latest-news’,
‘category_parent’ => 0,
)),
2 =>
WP_Term::__set_state(array(
‘term_id’ => 2029,
‘name’ => ‘ZZZ-Email’,
‘slug’ => ’email’,
‘term_group’ => 0,
‘term_taxonomy_id’ => 2029,
‘taxonomy’ => ‘category’,
‘description’ => ”,
‘parent’ => 2031,
‘count’ => 8281,
‘filter’ => ‘raw’,
‘cat_ID’ => 2029,
‘category_count’ => 8281,
‘category_description’ => ”,
‘cat_name’ => ‘ZZZ-Email’,
‘category_nicename’ => ’email’,
‘category_parent’ => 2031,
)),
3 =>
WP_Term::__set_state(array(
‘term_id’ => 2031,
‘name’ => ‘ZZZ-RSSFeeds’,
‘slug’ => ‘zzz-rssfeeds’,
‘term_group’ => 0,
‘term_taxonomy_id’ => 2031,
‘taxonomy’ => ‘category’,
‘description’ => ”,
‘parent’ => 0,
‘count’ => 7639,
‘filter’ => ‘raw’,
‘cat_ID’ => 2031,
‘category_count’ => 7639,
‘category_description’ => ”,
‘cat_name’ => ‘ZZZ-RSSFeeds’,
‘category_nicename’ => ‘zzz-rssfeeds’,
‘category_parent’ => 0,
)),
)
