Hawksworth Wins PEAK Performance Pole at Barber

Jack Hawksworth

Englishman Jack Hawksworth, fresh off a win from the pole in Race 2 of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear season opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg last weekend, has won his second PEAK Performance Pole Award in a row with a split-second effort on a soaking wet track here at Barber Motorsports Park.

Driving the #82 Team Pelfrey / TORGOEN Swiss Watches / EXA Networks Mazda amid a flock of rooster-tails, he took the premium starting spot on the gird – if there can be said to be such a thing under these conditions – by a mere 93/100ths of a second over Martin Scuncio in the #22 Juncos Racing / Pullman Bus Mazda.

"All my racing in Europe has prepared me well for a wet race on a natural-terrain road course, but the key is going to be staying out of trouble," said Hawksworth, currently the Star Mazda Championship points leader. "It was a bit of a muddle heading into qualifying with the track announcer talking about severe storms on the way, but you just have to put that out of your head and get on with the job. There are a couple of adjustments we'll make for a wet race, but all in all we're feeling confident."

Due to ongoing rain showers and lightning in the area, all activities at Barber Motorsports Park were canceled for the remainder of the day. Star Mazda Race 1 is now scheduled to take the green light for the series' traditional – and always exciting – F1-style standing start at 10:20 am Sunday, April 1. Race 2 will take place after the end of the IndyCar race, with the start scheduled for approximately 4:45 pm.

Star Mazda races will be broadcast on Velocity TV and ESPN International; for air dates and times, go to www.StarMazda.com and click the Star Mazda TV icon.

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