MOST motorsport racers know what their next move is going to be and for the ambitious Daniel Hookway it’s no different.
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The 15-year-old is closing the curtain on his go karting career with the Warrnambool Kart Club at the top of the field as a Victorian Country Series winner in the KA4 junior heavy class after last weekend’s final round in Portland.
Now the Terang College student is eyeing off a move from bitumen to dirt.
“Holding up the (country series) trophy was a great way to finish my career as I am now going into a new class of motorsport,” Hookway said.
“Hopefully what I have learnt in karting will help me in the junior formula-500 class that I will be racing this speedway season. It will be a whole new experience for dad (Steve) and I.”
The step into the new sport is just part of the journey Hookway wants to take with his father. Together they’ve created a stronger bond through racing and preparing go karts together.
“I have always wanted to get into speedway. Since before I started karting I had a big interest in it,” he said.
“My dream is to eventually move up into sprintcars and that has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid.”
Hookway’s final races in a go kart at Portland over the weekend didn’t go as the teenager would have liked them to go, finishing eleventh.
“Unfortunately I didn’t win my final race as I agreed to sell all my go karts so we could afford to buy my speedway car,” he said.
“The final race was a bit of a struggle due to the go kart that I was racing was not suitable for the class I am in, therefore I could not get the required times out of it.”
But upon his finish Hookway was able to reflect on the highlights of his time in a go kart.
“Of all my results the favourite was definitely (round three at) Horsham,” he said.
“After failing to put in a lap in qualifying I worked my way from 23rd on the grid all the way up to first at the end of the day.”
Hookway would finish with 5678 points across the six-round series, over 300 in front of Joel Johnson and 1100 ahead of Zaiden Barry in third. The Framlingham resident finished the six-round series with five podium finishes and three victories.
Cobden go karter Rusty Ponting capped off another stellar season with a victory in Portland and also securing back-to-back series victories.
The nine-year-old adds the series victory to a second place finish in the final round and second overall placing in the Victorian Karting Championship early this year.
Ponting finished with 6296 points to win ahead of Jensen Marold and Charlie Evans.