Karting star revs up his season with success at prestigious race

The race was only his second competitive outing since rejoining PDB Racing.

Jack, 19, from Cullingworth, had lifted the coveted Margutti Trophy in 2009 but returning to Castelletto, close to Parma,12 months on, he had few expectations of a repeat showing in a race that has in the past been contested by the likes of current F1 stars Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Robert Kubica.

He had enjoyed a distinctly low-key start to his 2010 WSK Euro Series challenge at La Conca a fortnight earlier but a significant improvement in practice in the Trofeo Andrea Margutti at Castelletto showed swift progress was being made.

Jack said: "I didn't really feel under any pressure entering the Margutti. We went into the meeting in a realistic frame of mind; I didn't think I had a chance of defending my title, so I was just aiming to do the best I possibly could. It was completely different to La Conca straightaway, though.

"We changed quite a few things on the chassis as well, and I just felt so much more comfortable in the kart than I had done at La Conca. Everybody did a really good job to turn it around that quickly from La Conca," he added.