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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Hawksworth On The Rise
If you’re a fan of following tomorrow’s stars before they hit the primetime, you’ll love everything about Jack Hawksworth, the newly-minted Star Mazda champ.
Hawksworth, middle, poses for a victory photo with America's Connor De Phillippi, right, and Colombia's Gabby Chaves, left, who've also won Star Mazda races this season. (Photo: Eric McCombs)
If you’re a fan of following tomorrow’s stars before they hit the primetime, you’ll love everything about Jack Hawksworth, the newly-minted Star Mazda champion.
The 21-year-old Englishman became the first driver to secure a title on the Mazda Road To Indy ladder in 2012, earning it in fitting style at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend, but the most remarkable aspect of his accomplishment is how “J-Hawk” dominated the championship.
Going purely by the numbers, J-Hawk’s 10 poles and eight wins from 16 rounds driving for Team Pelfrey is staggering, and he also set all-time records in both categories, wrapping up the championships with two rounds left to run.
The stats are obviously impressive--and were achieved while facing incredibly stiff opposition--yet what stands out more than any other aspect of Hawksworth’s championship is the limited experience he carried into the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Unlike many kids that come to America with loads of experience, 2012 effectively served as Hawksworth's first outing in a major championship.
Starting out in karting at the age of 13, he progressed through the karting ranks through 2010 before graduating to his first full season of car racing in 2011.
With just one year of British Formula Renault under his belt, Hawksworth chose America over the traditional European open-wheel ladder and hasn’t looked back.
Heading into the 2012 Star Mazda season, Hawksworth was a complete unknown while American drivers Connor De Phillippi, who was returning for his third year in the series, and Sage Karam, who finished fifth during his rookie campaign in 2011, ranked as the title favorites.
De Phillippi and Karam have the talent to win championships and move up to the Firestone Indy Lights Series, but after getting shellacked by a rookie with a fraction of their open-wheel experience, the net effect caused Hawksworth's stock to shoot through the roof.
His first-year success also caught the attention of INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard, who hopes to have J-Hawk in the IndyCar Series in the next few years.
“The goal of the Mazda Road to Indy is to find the future stars of INDYCAR, and Jack Hawksworth is definitely a future star of our sport,” Bernard told SPEED.com. “As a rookie to racing in America, he conquered a very talented class of Star Mazda drivers and won the 2012 series title in dominating fashion, setting series records for wins and points. I look forward to seeing what Jack can do as he graduates to Firestone Indy Lights in 2013.”
I spoke with Hawksworth on Tuesday, and he said that while he’s proud of moving to the front of the Star Mazda field and earning a championship in his first try, he won’t let the celebrations get in the way of planning for 2013.
“It’s all been amazing, really,” said the Cullingworth native, who was born near IndyCar driver Justin Wilson and shares the same accent.
“Right now we’re just appreciating everything that Team Pelfrey has done this year, the championship we earned, and next I’ll be looking at all of my options for next year and talking with all of the [Indy Lights] teams.”
When he wasn’t winning, Hawksworth demonstrated a level of consistency that's rare at the Star Mazda level. His complete lack of oval experience showed on bullrings like IRP and Iowa, but almost everywhere else--and when a win wasn’t on the cards--Hawksworth was in the hunt, scoring four second-place finishes to go with his eight victories.
“Consistency is something I've worked on,” he said. “It’s the most important thing for a racing driver. I wanted to be consistent. I run lap after lap after lap without any mistakes and turn up [ready to go] at the circuit every time. [And] approach the weekend in the correct way. I guess I'm very structured in the way I do everything. I'm a bit of a perfectionist in the sense that I always want, before every race and the way I approach every race, everything to be in a set order.”
As Hawksworth moves forward in the sport, he’ll find plenty of IndyCar drivers who share his approach.
The 21-year-old Englishman became the first driver to secure a title on the Mazda Road To Indy ladder in 2012, earning it in fitting style at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last weekend, but the most remarkable aspect of his accomplishment is how “J-Hawk” dominated the championship.
Going purely by the numbers, J-Hawk’s 10 poles and eight wins from 16 rounds driving for Team Pelfrey is staggering, and he also set all-time records in both categories, wrapping up the championships with two rounds left to run.
The stats are obviously impressive--and were achieved while facing incredibly stiff opposition--yet what stands out more than any other aspect of Hawksworth’s championship is the limited experience he carried into the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Unlike many kids that come to America with loads of experience, 2012 effectively served as Hawksworth's first outing in a major championship.
Starting out in karting at the age of 13, he progressed through the karting ranks through 2010 before graduating to his first full season of car racing in 2011.
With just one year of British Formula Renault under his belt, Hawksworth chose America over the traditional European open-wheel ladder and hasn’t looked back.
Heading into the 2012 Star Mazda season, Hawksworth was a complete unknown while American drivers Connor De Phillippi, who was returning for his third year in the series, and Sage Karam, who finished fifth during his rookie campaign in 2011, ranked as the title favorites.
De Phillippi and Karam have the talent to win championships and move up to the Firestone Indy Lights Series, but after getting shellacked by a rookie with a fraction of their open-wheel experience, the net effect caused Hawksworth's stock to shoot through the roof.
His first-year success also caught the attention of INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard, who hopes to have J-Hawk in the IndyCar Series in the next few years.
“The goal of the Mazda Road to Indy is to find the future stars of INDYCAR, and Jack Hawksworth is definitely a future star of our sport,” Bernard told SPEED.com. “As a rookie to racing in America, he conquered a very talented class of Star Mazda drivers and won the 2012 series title in dominating fashion, setting series records for wins and points. I look forward to seeing what Jack can do as he graduates to Firestone Indy Lights in 2013.”
I spoke with Hawksworth on Tuesday, and he said that while he’s proud of moving to the front of the Star Mazda field and earning a championship in his first try, he won’t let the celebrations get in the way of planning for 2013.
“It’s all been amazing, really,” said the Cullingworth native, who was born near IndyCar driver Justin Wilson and shares the same accent.
“Right now we’re just appreciating everything that Team Pelfrey has done this year, the championship we earned, and next I’ll be looking at all of my options for next year and talking with all of the [Indy Lights] teams.”
When he wasn’t winning, Hawksworth demonstrated a level of consistency that's rare at the Star Mazda level. His complete lack of oval experience showed on bullrings like IRP and Iowa, but almost everywhere else--and when a win wasn’t on the cards--Hawksworth was in the hunt, scoring four second-place finishes to go with his eight victories.
“Consistency is something I've worked on,” he said. “It’s the most important thing for a racing driver. I wanted to be consistent. I run lap after lap after lap without any mistakes and turn up [ready to go] at the circuit every time. [And] approach the weekend in the correct way. I guess I'm very structured in the way I do everything. I'm a bit of a perfectionist in the sense that I always want, before every race and the way I approach every race, everything to be in a set order.”
As Hawksworth moves forward in the sport, he’ll find plenty of IndyCar drivers who share his approach.
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