Fired-up Hawksworth ready for dual European title bid

Photo by Chris Walker/Kartpix

Jack Hawksworth may have enjoyed a brief quiet spell over the Christmas period, but since the dawn of the New Year the young Bradford karting ace has been back on-track again with a vengeance – and preparing at speed for the dual challenge that awaits him in 2008.

The motor racing season never really stops, and Jack is living proof of that as he and his Gillard KZ2 mount have been touring the European circuits and getting to grips with different tyres and grip levels as a prelude to his assault on the WSK International Series and European Championship laurels over the coming months.

“It’s not really been much of a break to be honest!” he quipped. “I’ve been driving all over Europe lately, testing at Genk in Belgium and Angerville in France ahead of the opening rounds of the WSK and Europeans [to be held at the latter at the beginning of April and May respectively].

“Angerville is a good track. It’s very technical, with not many straights. It’s a lot of fun, and we learned so much over the two days out there in terms of what we needed to do set-up wise on the kart. Hopefully that will give us a good advantage going into the race there.

“It’s a different game altogether in Europe to the UK; the driving style and set-up of the kart are so different. It’s important that we prepare well for the challenges ahead.

“Testing has gone really, really well. We’ve been fast and had no real problems whatsoever. I now feel refreshed and ready to go again, and I can’t wait to get back out there racing! I’m really looking forward to what should be an exciting season and a great opportunity for me.”

Though the WSK and European Championships will mark the PDB Racing star’s principal focus in 2008, his maiden competitive European outing of the year will in fact come at Kerpen, home track to no less a driver than a certain Michael Schumacher and scene of a dazzling performance in the German Winter Cup two months ago, when Jack finished fourth amongst the crème de la crème of international opposition.

“It should be a full grid,” he affirmed, “and I expect some top drivers to be there again. Hopefully we will be able to improve on the fourth place we had there in December.

“I’ve got a lot more confidence now because over the past two or three months I’ve been working really hard on all aspects of my racing. I’ve been working out quite hard in the gym and doing a lot of exercises too.”

As to his ultimate ambitions for the task at-hand, the reigning British ICC runner-up and Newcomer of the Year is clearly heading into the campaign in high spirits, and determined to turn heads with the kind of performances that have regularly marked him out as an undoubted star of the future over the past few seasons.

“To win the European Championship is my main goal,” he underlined, “but it will be hard, and I’m looking for a top three finish at least in WSK.

“Looking at the entry list, it couldn’t be much harder. There’s the World Champion Marco Ardigo, World Cup winner Jonathan Thonon and ex-European Champion Bas Lammers. It will be very tough, but we’ve got very good kit and are with a really good team in PDB, so I’m confident we will be up there and fighting. I think we will probably surprise a few people.”

Leave a Reply