Euro Max Challenge - Round 4 Genk - Belgium Click here for live action from the fourth round of the Euro Max Challenge on Raceworld TV 23rd/24th September 2006

Qualifying – Testing had gone well for Jack and he was relatively confident with the setup going into qualifying. How ever the new tyres seemed to upset the balance of the kart and Jack struggled with a lack of front end grip. Never the less Jack still managed to qualify 3rd out of the 50 eager drivers which would set him up nicely for the rest of the weekend.

Heat 1 – Jack started Pole for the first heat of the day after a strong qualifying and made no mistakes at the start as he kept his lead through the first lap. Jack then drove to a comfortable victory followed home by championship rivals Niek Vos and Steel Guiliana.

Heat 2 – Jack lined up on p2 alongside Japan’s Kazuki Hiramine for the second heat of the day. Jack slotted into 3rd after the first corner but was quickly back up to 2nd in front of fellow Brit Phil Howarth and chasing after the leader Kazuki Hiramine. On lap two Jack made his move for the lead and managed to hold off the feisty Japanese driver for the rest of the race to secure another heat win.

Heat 3 – On grid 2 for the last heat of the day alongside Dutch driver Jorrit Pex. Jack once again slotted into 3rd place at the first corner before following fellow Brit David Sutton through for the lead as the British duo demoted Jorrit Pex to 3rd. Jack was struggling with grip though and quickly found himself demoted back to 3rd after the third lap. On the last lap Jack let two drivers past so that instead of starting on the outside of the first row for the Pre-Final he would start on the inside of the second row which was definatley an advantage around this track.

Pre Final – After some good heats Jack started on grid 3 for the Pre-Final and was quickly up into 2nd and right behind the race leader of Jorrit Pex. Jack then sat behind the race leader for the duration of the race and made no attempt to make a pass as he decided to be conservative and make sure he kept his nose clean instead of getting embrawled in a battle with the leader. Which may have ended up in an incident which could have put Jack’s championship lead at stake. Jack finished a solid 2nd which meant all that he would have to do in the final would be to finish in the top 11 to tie up the championship.

Final – Jack got a poor start from the outside of the grid and dropped to 4th after the first corner. Jack quickly made his way past Howarth to take 3rd on lap three and then set about catching the front two of Sutton and Pex. Jack at first started to real in the pair until the gap started to stabilise. Jack had pulled a margin over the battle for fourth place, which meant it was just a matter of counting down the laps and hoping that no mechanical gremlins would strike and ruin his championship hopes. Jack cruised to the finish behind fellow Brit David Sutton and race winner Jorrit Pex. Jack new he had done enough and it was a superb way to end his European campaign.

This result was enough to crown Jack as the 2006 Junior Rotax Max European Champion by 15 points over his nearest rivals Steel Guilliana and Mats VandeBrand. Jack has demonstrated all year that he was fast enough and consistent enough to win the title and despite bad luck along the way in rounds one and two he always managed a top 3 in one of the finals at every round. Which was enough to put him ahead of all his rivals.

“I would like to thank Protrain racing for helping me to secure this championship without them this couldn’t have been done. I'd also like to thank Steve Ogden for all his help and his great engines that he has delivered and of course my Dad and the rest of my family for all their support. It’s a fantastic result and a great achievement for the team and me. I now look forward to the World Finals in Portugal on the 14th to 18th November where once again I think we will be able to challenge for the win." Jack Hawksworth