Hawksworth lauds ‘unbelievable’ Margutti triumph

03.24.2009

Bradford karting star Jack Hawksworth celebrated what he described as his ‘biggest international title’ to-date at the weekend, after seeing off more than 50 rivals of the very highest calibre around to triumph in the prestigious Margutti Trophy in Italy.

Having already registered his maiden victory with new team Energy Corse in Florida and made a superb start to his 2009 WSK International Series campaign with the runner-up spoils at Sarno, Jack travelled to Castelletto near Pavia firmly intent on maintaining that excellent form.

With leading KZ1 and KZ2 talent of the likes of Alessandro Manetti, ex team-mate Manu Renaudie and Anthony Abbasse amongst others all in attendance, it would be no easy task – but then the 18-year-old is used to defying the odds.

“I’d done one test day there with the team in the week leading up to the meeting,” he explained, “so I knew the circuit beforehand. It has some tight and twisty bits, but it’s not too technical and it didn’t take too long to get used to it.

“We qualified fifth, and I was a little bit disappointed with that. With the Vega White tyres the performance drops off quite quickly, so you only really get one chance to set a good lap time. I was inadvertently blocked in my last sector a little bit by Michael Ryall; he was on a fast lap as well and I just caught him a bit too quickly.

“I lost two tenths there, which would have put me on pole, but I wasn’t too fussed because we were still near to the front and I knew we were very competitive pace-wise.”

That he certainly was, and after a bright start to the pre-final, Jack ultimately prevailed in a fraught three-way scrap for second place with Manetti and current team-mate Paolo de Conto, leaving him on the front row of the grid for the all-important final alongside Renaudie – and knowing that the start would be key.

“The start was a big part of it,” he acknowledged. “I knew that if we could make a gap in the first few laps we could put a little bit of distance between ourselves and our rivals. Renaudie had a bad start and I got into the lead, but over the first few laps the tyres weren’t working properly and we were struggling a little bit. I think I was holding half the field up!

“Abbasse, Renaudie and de Conto were all over me, but I knew the tyres would come on eventually – and when they did I felt much more in control. I managed to put some consistent times in and keep it on the black stuff. After that it was just a case of not making any mistakes, playing it safe and nursing it home.”

That he did flawlessly to seal the greatest success of his increasingly impressive international career. For a driver who has in the past been crowned Junior Max Vice-World Champion, Junior Max European Champion and British ICC Vice-Champion, this victory, he admitted, was ‘a bit special’.

“It was a great result,” Jack enthused. “This is definitely my biggest international title – it’s a bit special to win a trophy like the Margutti – and I’m over the moon! Everybody in the team did a perfect job, and we really couldn’t have asked for any more to be honest. I’m really happy; it’s unbelievable.”

“We’ve had an absolutely great start to the year. We won in Florida, then in Sarno for the WSK we finished second in the pre-final and should have been second in the final too but for a broken chain. We’ve got the momentum going, so we just need to make sure we keep working hard and stay in front of our rivals. If we do that we can be very happy.”

To keep up-to-date with Jack’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jackhawksworth.co.uk

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