Lachlan "Lochie" Hughes (born 15 March 2002) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

racing driver. He currently competes in the

2025 Indy NXT The 2025 Firestone Indy NXT Series is the ongoing 39th season of the Indy NXT Open wheel car, open wheel auto racing series and the 23rd sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. This is the third year of ...

for

Andretti Global Andretti Global is an American motorsports organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, Indy NXT, Formula E, and joint entries in IMSA and the Australian Supercars Championship. Starting in 2026, Andretti will also operate the Cad ...

. Hughes previously competed in the

2024 USF2000 Championship The 2024 USF2000 Championship presented by Continental Tire will be the fifteenth season of the USF2000 Championship since its revival in 2010. The championship serves as the second rung of the IndyCar Series's USF Pro Championships ladder sys ...

driving for Jay Howard Driver Development, where he won the title. He is the 2022 Formula 4 United States champion and the 2024 USF Pro 2000 champion.

Career

Karting

Hughes would have success in karting, finishing 2nd in both the Florida Winter Tour, the WSK Gold cup and the Australian Kart Championship in 2014, 2015 and 2017 respectively.

Australian Formula 4 Championship

2018

In 2018, Hughes would make his car racing debut in the

Australian Formula 4 Championship Formula 4 Australian Championship Certified by FIA (from 2025, the AU4 Australian Championship) is an Australian motor racing series for open-wheel cars complying with FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural championship, known as the CAMS Jay ...

driving for Team BRM. He would get his maiden win in the series at

Winton Motor Raceway Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia. History The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg. In 1960 i ...

. Hughes would finish the season 5th in the standings and rookie champion.

2019

Hughes would return to the series in 2019 once again driving for Team BRM. He would get three wins, two poles, and eleven podiums during the season to finish 2nd behind champion Luis Leeds.

Formula 4 United States Championship

After not racing in 2020 and 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Hughes would move to the United States to compete in the 2022 Formula 4 United States Championship driving for Jay Howard Driver Development. He would start off the season with a win in the first race at

NOLA Motorsports Park NOLA Motorsports Park is a full service motorsports facility in Avondale, Louisiana approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. NOLA Motorsports Park includes an FIA Grade 2 road course, one of the largest (fully-lit) outdoor kart ...

. At the

New Jersey Motorsports Park New Jersey Motorsports Park is a road course "Motorsports Entertainment Complex" located in Millville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. It has hosted races since opening in 2008 and currently hosts a schedule including MotoAmerica ...

round, Hughes would take pole position, and won all three races on-track, however, a penalty in race one for jumping the start meant that his win would be taken away. Hughes would clinch the championship at the final round at

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

taking two wins to cap off the season. He would finish the season with 6 wins, 2 poles, and 10 podiums.

USF2000 Championship

2022

Hughes would make his debut in the

USF2000 Championship The USF2000 Championship Presented by Continental Tire is an American racing series using an American variation of the Formula Ford standard, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States ...

in 2022 with Jay Howard Driver Development at the

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

round. Finishing 2nd in his first ever race later to be disqualified for a technical infringement.

2023

On 6 October 2022, it was announced that Hughes would stay with Jay Howard Driver Development and make the jump up to the USF2000 Championship full-time in 2023. At the opening round at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, Hughes would beat competitor

Nikita Johnson Nikita Johnson (born May 25, 2008) is an American racing driver who is currently competes full-time in the 2025 GB3 Championship with Hitech Pulse-Eight and part-time in the 2025 Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. He was the 2024 USF Pro 2000 runner ...

to pole position by just eight hundredths of a second. He would manage to convert pole to victory, getting his maiden win of the season.

USF Pro 2000 Championship

2024

Hughes made his debut in the 2024 season racing with Turn 3 Motorsport. Claiming five wins, four pole positions and eleven podiums, Hughes won the title at the season finale at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

ahead of

Indy NXT

2025

In October 2024, Hughes graduated to the championship for the 2025 season with

. In the opening race of the season at St. Petersburg, he would qualify second behind his teammate

Dennis Hauger Dennis Hauger (; born 17 March 2003) is a Norwegians, Norwegian racing driver who competes in the 2025 Indy NXT with Andretti Global, having previously competed in FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula 2 from to . He was a member of the Red Bull ...

. Hughes would convert his qualifying result in the race, finishing on the podium in second. He would score another podium in the second round at Barber, finishing third behind debutant

Evagoras Papasavvas Evagoras Papasavvas (born December 25, 2007) is an American racing driver of Cypriot descent who currently competes in the 2025 Indy NXT driving for HMD Motorsports. He previously competed in the 2024 USF2000 Championship driving for Jay Howard ...

and Hauger. For the third round of the season at

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Hughes qualified on pole for both Indy GP races, ahead of teammate and championship leader Hauger. He would have a dominant performance in race one, leading from the start, and going on to score his maiden win in the series. Hughes would close down the gap to Hauger by 30 points to just 3 points following Hauger's finish of eighth.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete Australian Formula 4 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula 4 United States Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

American open-wheel racing results

USF2000 Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

USF Pro 2000 Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

Indy NXT

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) (Races with ^L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)

References

External links

*
Lochie_Hughes
at Third Turn. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Lochie 2002 births Living people U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Racing drivers from the Gold Coast, Queensland Australian F4 Championship drivers United States F4 Championship drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Indy NXT drivers Andretti Autosport drivers 21st-century Australian sportsmen