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Jack Hawksworth travelled to Miami for the opening meeting on the 2009 Formula Kart Racing Florida Winter Tour schedule hoping for a strong performance that would put his name in US racing teams’ shop window – and he returned to home soil again with the winner’s trophy packed firmly in his luggage.

Back in November the young Bradford star signed a deal to compete during the 2009 season with the front-running Energy Corse outfit in Europe, but so bad was the weather in Italy over the winter that prior to his transatlantic trip he had still to do any real meaningful running aboard his new mount. Be that as it may, he wasted little time in showing his rivals across the Pond that he meant serious business as he hit the ground running at Homestead Karting.

“There was a good atmosphere there,” he enthused. “The Americans are pretty crazy guys and they put on quite a show! They seemed very keen on the karting, and motorsport is certainly extremely big over there with IndyCar and NASCAR.

“The track was good too; it was a temporary circuit, but it was interesting. It was quite fast and flowing with some nice corners thrown into the mix as well, and lap times were about 45-46 seconds.

“It took a couple of sessions to get used to the track, primarily because it was just so different to anything I’d driven on before, especially the bumps. After that, though, I was comfortable with it.

“The competition was very hard. Alex Speed is a multiple American champion, and there were also drivers there like Fritz Leesmann, Jose Zanella and Hayden Duerson. They’re all very fast guys who could probably give the best in the world a run for their money.

“The overall standard I think is harder in the UK and Europe, but some of the guys there were as good as those racing in the European Championship. There may have been just 15 drivers in the Formula ProShifter gearbox class, but it was a quality field.”

Indeed, over the past couple of years Jack has proved that he incontrovertibly is one of best in world, and he refused to let the impressive reputations of competitors such as Speed – younger brother of former Formula 1 and current NASCAR star Scott and a three-time national ICC champion in his own right – throw him off his stride.

“I was quite confident,” the 18-year-old underlined. “The kart was good and the engine was good, so it was just a matter of putting it all together for the races. The format was a double-header, with qualifying followed by a pre-final and then final on both days.”

After qualifying within a scant three thousandths of a second of pole position on the Saturday – pipped agonisingly to the top spot in the very dying moments of the session by Speed – the 18-year-old clearly aimed to make amends come the races, but his clutch unfortunately had other ideas…

“That was very frustrating,” he reflected of qualifying, “because Alex beat me on his last lap, but I knew I was starting on the front row so I was still quite confident. I had a problem with the clutch at the start of the races on Saturday, though. I lost four or five places in both the pre-final and final away from the line and could only come back through to second.

“It was tough fighting my way back up – it’s never easy to come through the pack, and these guys were tough to pass – and by the time I had done, Alex was too far ahead to be caught.

“We sorted it out for the Sunday, though, and I got pole by a tenth-and-a-half. I knew I needed to do a good job to impress, and I managed to put pretty much a perfect lap together in qualifying. In the pre-final I mad a good start kept the lead and just managed to pace myself to the end.

“The final was a lot closer. Alex was really quick and he was on my tail all the way. I tried to make a break for it, but the lap times between us were just so close. I had to soak up the pressure to the end; when somebody that fast is that close to your rear bumper you’ve really got to keep your cool and just absorb the pressure, but thanks to a good chassis I held it to the chequered flag and we got the job done.”

Indeed he did, and with a full set of fastest laps and a clean sweep of the spoils on day two, it was very much a case of mission accomplished. Not only did the outcome of the weekend enable the former Junior Max Vice-World Champion, Junior Max European Champion and British ICC Vice-Champion to demonstrate just what he is capable of, but it also helped him to get to know his new team better – what he acknowledges will be a boon as he now looks ahead to a possible American return next month.

“The Sunday was a really good day,” he summarised, “and it was really nice to start my career with the team like that. On the Saturday I’d had a few regrets about the problems on the start-line, but on the Sunday I think I did a good job and the team did a good job, and you can’t really ask for any more than that. Energy were very pleased, and they sell more karts if they win a race in the States too! It was good all-round.

“I really got on well with all the guys and got to know my mechanic who I’ll be working with during the season. I feel settled in the team now. It was a really, really good start to the season. It’s good to get my name out everywhere, but especially in the US with all the motorsport opportunities they have over there.

“I’ll be out testing at La Conca in Italy in a couple of weeks’ time, and then my next race meeting will be the second round of the Florida Winter Tour, I think. The team decided to carry on with it after the results we got in the first round. I’m really looking forward to it – and hopefully this time we can win on both days!”