Cullingworth’s Jack Hawksworth was only treating the 2010 Formula Renault UK Winter Series as an opportunity to pick up some experience ahead of the main championship in 2011.

But after storming to pole position and then finishing fourth in his first foray into car racing after stepping up from karting, he has had to re-appraise his objectives.

Competing for Mark Burdett Motorsport, Hawksworth headed to Snetterton in Norfolk for the Winter Series curtain-raiser with only a handful of days’ testing under his belt.

Yet the former Parkside School pupil left his rivals stunned. Never far from the top of the timing screens throughout, the 19-year-old blitzed the field to claim the prime spot on the starting grid.

“It was unbelievable,” he confessed. “I had never expected to take pole in my first car meeting! I was just there to learn, to be honest.

“We were all a little bit surprised, I think, and everyone in the team was really chuffed – it was the best start we could possibly have wished for going into our first race together.”

Hawksworth was determined not to drive too rashly in his first race.

“I was nervous sat on the grid,” he acknowledged, “but my main goal was still to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid and to just finish the race, so I could get the laps under my belt and learn a little bit about car racing along the way.

“I drove very cautiously to begin with – I was nowhere near aggressive enough – but after a while I began to settle into a rhythm behind the leader.

“I was comfortable staying with him and had a bit of a gap back to third, and then the safety car came out. After the restart, Ollie Millroy was quite close behind me coming out of the first corner. I had a quick look in my mirror, but that momentary lapse in concentration caused me to out-brake myself into the following corner, which allowed Millroy and the guy in fourth to out-drag me along the straight.

“In hindsight, I should have defended a lot harder, but for my first race I just wanted to keep out of trouble – I didn’t have the same mindset that I normally do.”

He added: “There was nothing in it between me and the top three, and I wasn’t pushing over the limit – I felt well within myself.

“I knew I’d done a lot better than people had been expecting me to in my first car outing, and I’m very proud of what I achieved. I was over the moon and would have been ecstatic with fourth place back at the start of the week – we definitely made an impact.”

Burdett himself was certainly struck by the youngster’s composed performance. After the Yorkshire hotshot concluded a head-turning weekend a strong sixth in the championship table and top car-racing rookie, his team principal warned that Hawks-worth’s best was yet to come.

“Jack is doing a fantastic job,” he said. “He’s on a very steep learning curve, but he has a very professional approach and is learning and improving every time and making great progress.

“We’re all very pleased with him. While the more experienced drivers don’t have that much more room for improvement within themselves, Jack will just keep on getting better and better and better. He is nowhere near his peak yet – there is plenty more still to come.”

To keep up-to-date with Jack’s latest career news and results, please visit: www.jackhawksworth.co.uk