Jack Hawksworth proved himself to be streets ahead of his rivals as he blasted back into title contention in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship with a mesmerising triumph in the Toronto 100.

And with four rounds remaining, he warned: “This isn’t over yet.”

The talented young speed demon from Cullingworth headed to Canada eager to return to the street circuits following a torrid oval run, bemoaning his fifth-place finish in his most recent outing at Pocono Raceway as ‘pretty average’.

There was nothing average in the slightest about his Toronto display though.

Having dominated proceedings around the streets of Toronto’s Exhibition Place last year en route to clinching the Star Mazda Championship crown, Hawks-worth wasted no time in getting down into the groove.

After claiming his first Indy Lights pole position by four hundredths of a second, the 22-year-old didn’t let his pursuers get so much as a look-in over 50 laps completed in stifling heat.

Every time second-placed Gabby Chaves threatened to close up, Hawksworth responded by going faster still.

He took the chequered flag almost 15 seconds clear of the runner-up to tally his second victory of the campaign – his first since the St Petersburg curtain-raiser back in March – and fourth podium.

The former Parkside School pupil said: “The first few laps are always extremely important and, after getting a good jump at the start, I pushed hard to extend my lead.

“I had a really good car underneath me and my main focus was on managing the gap.

“Although Gabby kept me honest throughout the opening half of the race, we always had a little bit in reserve for when we needed it and I felt comfortable.”

Having climbed from fifth to fourth in the title standings and cutting his deficit to the leader from 65 points to 43, next up for the single-seater ace is Mid-Ohio next month, which he describes as an ‘awesome road course’ after discovering it for the first time recently.

That event is followed by Baltimore, where 12 months ago he left the Star Mazda field eating his dust.

Hawksworth said: “I can’t wait for Mid-Ohio now.

“We went well there in testing, so the goal has to be to do exactly the same as we did in Toronto and hopefully come away with another great result.

“It’s all to play for still. Yes, we have a big hole to dig ourselves out of, but I’m driving well, we’ve got the speed and the next three races are all at my kind of tracks.

“We need to extract the absolute maximum from every remaining weekend – and then we’ll see where we end up when the final scores are counted. This isn’t over yet.”