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 race in a row – from the pole – in today's Star Mazda Race 1. Driving his No. 82 Team Pelfrey / TORGOEN Swiss Watches / EXA Networks Mazda, Hawksworth (black suit) crossed the finish line 6.9 second ahead of 2nd-place finisher Sage Karam (orange / white) in the No. 88 Andretti Autosport / Comfort Revolution Mazda. This was his first podium of the season after winning two races last year but getting off to a rocky start with mechanical problems in Round 1 at St. Pete.
Rounding out the top-3 was European F3 and GP3 racer Gabby Chaves (far right), who also scored a podium finish in St. Pete, driving the No. 19 JDC Motorsports / OMP Mazda. The top-finishing Expert Series driver, as he was in St. Pete, was top AMA SuperBike racer Larry Pegram (far left) who periodically trades two wheels for four when he races his No. 72 AIM Autosport Foremost Insurance / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery Mazda.
"The team and I are just over the moon about our results so far, but you can't reasonably after expect this kind of thing to continue, so you just have to make the best of it and keep working as hard as you can," says Hawksworth. "The minute you start taking the results for granted, they'll stop happening. Fortunately Team Pelfrey is a very professional organization, and even though the level of competition in this series is actually quite high, I'm confident that I have a winning car every time I roll out on track."
A second 30-minute race, with Hawksworth again on pole, will run immediately after the conclusion of the Grand Prix of Alabama. The race was originally scheduled for Friday, but major storms in the area forced a postponement of all racing activities that afternoon.