Hughes made his racing debut in 1989 in the British Formula Ford Junior 1600 series, finishing third in his very first race — ahead of David Coulthard. He won the Junior FF1600 championship in 1990 and progressed through Formula Vauxhall Lotus and British Formula 3, finishing fourth in the British F3 Championship in both 1995 and 1998.
A notable highlight came in 1994 when Hughes completed a Formula One test for Lotus, and in 2000 he tested for the Williams Formula One team, though the permanent test driver role went to Marc Gené. That same year Hughes competed in Italian Formula 3000 with Arden Team Russia, finishing as championship runner-up and missing the podium only three times across the season.
In 2001, Hughes joined MG as a factory driver under the West Surrey Racing banner in the British Touring Car Championship. He also drove the new MG-Lola EX257 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Anthony Reid and Jonny Kane, though that debut ended in retirement after an oil pressure failure on lap 30.
Hughes remained with MG in the BTCC through 2003. He won two races in 2002 and one in 2003, finishing sixth and seventh overall in those respective seasons. When MG withdrew from motorsport at the end of 2003, Hughes was forced to move on.
After leaving MG, Hughes competed extensively in the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His breakthrough came in 2005 when, driving the MG-Lola EX264 for RML Group alongside Erdos and Newton, the trio claimed the LMP2 class victory at Le Mans — Hughes's finest hour in endurance racing.
He continued in the Le Mans Series through 2006 with Team LNT, switching to a GT2-class Panoz Esperante GTLM. Despite early retirements, Hughes and co-driver Robert Bell won the final two rounds of the season at Donington and Jarama, finishing third in the GT2 class standings.
From 2007 to 2009, Hughes drove for Embassy Racing in an LMP2-class Radical SR9-Judd, then an Embassy WF01-Zytek, before Embassy closed its doors due to the economic recession.
In 2010 and 2011, Hughes raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship for Sumo Power GT alongside Jamie Campbell-Walter, driving a Nissan GT-R. His best result in that series came with a class victory at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone.
The 2011 season brought a championship victory in the SPEED EuroSeries, where Hughes and Jody Firth won three races and took eight podiums for Team WFR in their WFR WF03-Mugen, clinching the title by three points from Dean Stirling.
In 2012, Hughes returned to the British GT Championship with Team WFR, this time in the GT4 class in a Ginetta G50 alongside Firth's replacement Jody Fannin. The pair dominated the category, winning eight of ten races and finishing 84 points clear of the nearest rival to take the GT4 title.
After scaling back his racing commitments, Hughes moved into driver coaching. He worked with the W Series, including with triple champion Jamie Chadwick, and also coached at Argenti Motorsport, Double R Racing, and Balfe Motorsport. Hughes became a coach for McLaren's Pure McLaren track programme and their GT Driver Development Programme. He has also coached at British Formula 3 team Hitech Racing.
Hughes still made occasional race appearances: at the 2021 Gulf 12 Hours in Bahrain he finished third in a GT4 McLaren.
Hughes is one of British motorsport's most versatile endurance-racing figures, combining competitiveness at Le Mans with consistent performance across GT and touring car categories over more than two decades. His 2005 Le Mans LMP2 win with RML Group remains his signature result, and his transition into a coaching role — nurturing talent including Jamie Chadwick — adds a further dimension to a career defined by adaptability and longevity.