Hamilton stars in Paris kart extravaganza

European champion Hamilton won Saturday's final after a thrilling scrap with French F3 star Bruno Besson and Formula Renault Campus champion Alexandre Premat. Hamilton, who always looked to have speed in hand, outfoxed them both to score the win, while Besson and Premat tangled and dropped down the field, promoting French Formula Ford star Julien Melis and F3 racer Julien Piguet to the other podium positions.

"I was very quick in testing, and adapted to the track quite well, so I knew in the races I would just have to be consistently fast," he said. "I wanted to win, but I also wanted to make it good for the spectators, so I held back in second place for a little while before coming through to win. It wasn't really that hard to win."

His hopes for a double victory were ruined when a fuel pipe pinched in Sunday's final, starving the carburetor of petrol and causing him to grind to a halt. Melis was able to go one better than Saturday, winning ahead of Premat and French F3 Promotion Class champion Adam Jones from England.

"I was in the lead, and had a bit of a gap, but the engine just wouldn't go any more," added Hamilton. "I stopped, lifted the kart up, found the problem and started off again, but I was all the way back in last by then, so I just had a laugh. On the whole, though, it was an amazing weekend to race in front of so many people."

Also competing in the event were McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award winners Anthony Davidson and Gary Paffett, plus Britain's world karting champion Colin Brown.