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| June 14, 2012 News |
| EFCN One-on-One: Star Mazda Championship Leader Jack Hawksworth |
 | Team Pelfrey Rookie Jack Hawksworth is at the top of Star Mazda Championship standings after five rounds
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship - Eric McCombs) |
Rookie Jack Hawksworth is off to superb start in the 2012 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, leading the point standings. The English racer recently talked to eFormulaCarNews.com about his race-winning run thus far in the Mazda Road to Indy series.
EFORMULACARNEWS.COM: Let's begin things by talking about your expectations entering the 2012 season. Being as you are Star Mazda Championship rookie, and you are driving for the defending team champion Team Pelfrey, what were your goals for the season as a whole, and the opening few races?
JACK HAWKSWORTH: Having signed for the defending Team champion, and having prepared myself in the best way possible over the winter, the expectations were to be right up at the sharp end of the field and mounting a challenge for the title. I didn't have any specific expectations for the first few races. I knew we had the pace to be right up there in the mix for wins, but I was more concerned with kicking off the season with a solid start and coming the way from the opening races with plenty of points on the board.
EFCN: You made an immediate impression by topping the timesheets during the inaugural Chris Griffis Memorial Test with Team Pelfrey at Indy. How important was that in building momentum and chemistry within the team prior to the start of the Star Mazda season?
HAWKSWORTH: Yeah the memorial test was really important, especially as
it was my first time in a Star Mazda car and it gave me the opportunity to impress the people and sponsors supporting me this year. It also allowed me and my manager to assess the series and the team. Likewise, it gave the team chance to evaluate me, and see if I was the right guy to drive for them. Topping the times was great, but more importantly I was able to start working with my engineer and my team, which gave me the perfect platform to start the season from.
EFCN: You've shown tremendous pace already on both a street circuit (St. Petersburg), and road course (Barber Motorsports Park), winning and posting the fastest race lap. How important is that?
HAWKSWORTH:To start the season the way we have done has justified all the work myself and Team Pelfrey have put in over the winter. It has given us a great foundation to go out there and get the job done this season. St Petes, being a circuit I didn't know, and also being my first-ever street circuit, put me on the back foot a little to start with, but over the course of the weekend I was able to improve step by step, and by the time the races came around, the No. 82 car was the quickest thing out there. To get a win there was really special, and then to follow it up at Barber with a really dominant win really got the ball rolling.
EFCN: What do you think has been the key to your early season success (two wins)?
HAWKSWORTH: I don't think there has been one key for the success to the start the season as such. It's more been a combination of hard work on both mine and the team's part. Nothing has been left to chance both on and off the circuit. It all stems from a huge desire at Team Pelfrey to take as much as we can from every single race.
 | Hawksworth has quickly come to grips with the Star Mazda cars, tracks and competition, scoring two wins
(Photo: Star Mazda Championship - Eric McCombs) |
EFCN: Thus far your biggest challenge for top honors has come from series veteran and former Team Pelfrey driver via Connor De Phillippi. What has that been like? Overall how has the competition level been?
HAWKSWORTH: The series as a whole is really strong this year. There are some strong teams with some quick drivers out there.
Connor has been our closest rival so far, and I enjoyed our fight in the first round of the series in St Petersburg. He’s got a lot of experience and he is a quick guy, but thats not to say he is the only one who could pose a threat this year.
It’s a deep field, and there is certainly another two or three potential race winners out there.
EFCN: Looking ahead, what races are you most looking forward to, and which do you think will be the most challenging?
HAWKSWORTH: I can’t wait for the race in Toronto! That track looks awesome, It looks bumpy and challenging, and I've always been a fan of those sort of circuits. I also really like the look of Laguna Seca. It's such a famous circuit, and from what I have heard it's pretty spectacular.
From a personal point of view, I guess Iowa will be the trickiest race for me, with my lack of experience on the ovals. Despite this, I think we are going to surprise a few people. I fully expect we will to be fighting for the top positions at this race as well.
EFCN: Finally looking at the big picture, what do you think will be the key to potentially winning the Star Mazda Championship title?
HAWKDWORTH: The key is going to be continuing to work harder than everybody else, and maximizing what we have on each given weekend, while keeping the ,istakes to a minimum. We'll be out to take as many points as we can each time out, and if we can do this, then the championship will take care of itself.
EFCN: Thank you for taking the time to speak to us.
HAWKSWORTH: Your welcome. I look forward to talking to EFCN and its followers again later in the season.
For additional EFCN One-on-One features, please visit HERE |
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