Ryan Hooker Interview

Unlike babies, racing drivers are not delivered by a stork or found under gooseberry bushes, they are 'born' on karting tracks around the world. Whether a young hopeful can make the transition from hobby karting to taking those first tentative steps onto the serious motorsport ladder is a minefield as young Essex hopeful Ryan Hooker has found out.

Ryan was first introduced to four wheels at the age of 14 by his father. "My Dad's followed motorsport all his life" Ryan remembers, "so when I was 14 we went to our local karting track and loved it so much we bought a second hand kart and started racing from there."

Truly bitten by the bug Ryan competed in karting and by 1999 arranged to attend as many track days as his budget allowed to learn circuits around Great Britain. It is obvious from talking to Ryan that the enthusiasm and willingness to learn was paramount from a young age, valuable traits often lacking in young would be drivers who are too busy eyeing the dreams to focus on the groundwork.

The usual tale we hear, as if some sort of natural evolution in any young drivers career, is they just go from karting to various single seaters but as Ryan explains to me searching for a route into the sport is often harder than the driving itself.

"There are so many different single seaters to choose from" Ryan explains, "and we just didn't know which to choose and how to go about it." Sometimes these things are not so much what you know as who you know to open doors and guide you in. Where Ryan was lucky was his own family. Having visited many races at near by Brands Hatch they had spied and enjoyed the Porsche 924 Championship. After some home number crunching they knew the modest, well by other series standards, budget was within reach and so looked to purchasing a Porsche which is where Ryan's father's expertise came into play.

"With Dad having a garage and knowledge of the car it meant I could really get involved and learn about the car. I'm very lucky as Dad has a lot of knowledge to glean from" says Ryan with much praise.

"Starting to race in the Porsche 924 series was a great eye opener. It was all new to me, in fact I hadn't long passed my road licence! I had to learn really quickly but the challenge of that just added to the whole experience and whilst it may not be the conventenial way into racing I know I have learnt some really valuable lessons from competing in the series."

And Ryan didn't just compete. In 2002, despite getting off to a pretty horrendous start which saw him taken off by another driver in race one leaving the car needing a rebuild that took a whole month (Dad's garage to the rescue!) and a mysterious car 'illness' which lasted a further month and still has them scratching their heads to this day, by the third and fourth rounds it soon emerged Ryan was going to be regularly mixing it with the leaders.

Thankfully, those first unlucky race results could be absorbed by the fact the championship allows drivers to drop their worst three results and Ryan went on to put in solid performances and had a real chance of taking the championship to the wire.

"At the final race at Oulton Park I knew it was a tall order but the championship was a possibility" recalls Ryan. "I had to take pole, ensure I got fastest lap and win to give myself any chance of taking the title." With a calmness that others in the series have praised, that is just what Ryan did, his nearest rival finished too far back and Ryan was crowned Porsche 924 Champion 2002.

Ryan has nothing for praise for this series which is now in its 12th year. It is hardly surprising that Ryan holds great affection for a series which provides not only good racing on track but great camaraderie off it. We should all praise a series that in its annual prize giving ceremony presents trophies for 'The Competitor who Epitomises the Spirit of the Championship', 'The Most Entertaining Competitor On (or Off!) the Circuit' and 'The Competitor Who Nearly Got Another Award'.

Ryan sums it up "It's a good series with really nice people". He has enjoyed the series so much and appreciated the lessons he's learnt on the way he stresses to me how keen he is to continue to support the series and as such has been competing in as many races as he can in 2003.

This in itself is impressive as 2003 has proved to be a whirlwind year for Ryan. The 2002 Porsche 924 calendar often crossed with the Formula Palmer Audi and gave Ryan the chance to see up close the inner workings of this popular single seater formula which greatly attracted him.

Formula Palmer Audi allows drivers with a National A Licence to race a prepared car for six rounds at a set fee making it attractive prospect for young, up and coming drivers, and the more mature driver for whom time may be at a premium. Each of the six rounds comprises of two races. Ryan was instantly impressed with the set up.

"It wasn't like they wanted the money and that was it" says Ryan, "They have an instalment payment plan which helps a lot. We were invited down to the base at Bedford and shown all round, they really made us feel welcome. The facilities are great at both at Bedford and the team they bring to the circuit. It's so professional. They are always happy to talk through all aspects from technical through to dealing with the press so it feels like their is always support and encouragement. I've learnt a lot about the cars and the technical side like downforce. It's very different from the Porsche - about 25 seconds a lap different! And if you are lucky enough to find sponsors there are great hospitality facilities on hand."

Until a sponsor is found Ryan and his family continue to fund this season themselves which is a huge commitment. Finding sponsorship at any level is difficult and with an FPA two header Autumn Trophy costing a further £10k Ryan is still unsure whether he'll be able to compete having to already look ahead to next year's budget. What makes this an even more frustrating time is that out there is a would-be sponsor missing out because Ryan has entered FPA with a bang and is fighting for the championship.

In the first two rounds Ryan has walked away with trophies for Rookie Junior of the race, the Avon Tyre Award and his maiden win. Race 4 at Snetterton, only his fourth time in a single seater, saw him drive a cool and controlled race, in wet conditions, to take his maiden win. "I had qualified well so I was aiming for a podium" says Ryan, "but as I put pressure on and kept in touch with the front two they had a coming together. I managed to avoid them and just kept thinking to myself to keep calm. When I got out of the car at the end of the race I just thought 'my God'; it didn't sink in until the next day." Little wonder he has already been labelled the FPA 'revelation' of the year.

After his maiden win the next round took place in Italy at the famous Monza circuit, one of two trips abroad for the FPA with round 5 taking place at Spa, Belgium at the end of August. These two foreign races are another reason Ryan has been impressed by the FPA set up. "The chance to compete on two of the world's most famous circuits is a big bonus" notes Ryan, "When we went to Monza it was new to almost everyone so it levelled the playing field even further." Ryan posted a second and fourth place taking him into Round 4 at Brands Hatch, to be held on August 17th, second in the championship, just 19 points behind Ryan Lewis.

Focused on the FPA championship, Ryan is also looking to future but is realistic in recognizing the hurdles head. "Other countries seem to get behind their young drivers much more than we do" Ryan says quite disheartened, "We have a lot of people who have been through to the highest points of the sport and done well out of it and it would be nice to see them put more back into the sport."

Former F1 driver, Jonathon Palmer's input, whose brainchild FPA is, is much appreciated by Ryan. "JP likes to get you talking to the media and learning all sides of the sport, which is very important" says Ryan who has been called on by all quarters after his superb Snetterton win and strong finishes, with extensive coverage of the series on Sky TV offering the competitors the chance to polish their on air performance.

Looking ahead to the future, Ryan is open to offers, "I'm not saying no to anything!" he answers with a laugh, "but I have to be realistic. I would jump at the chance of Formula 3. I'm trying to learn as much as I can and build on my FPA performance. From where I am now I need to build on that and stay in the public eye and hopefully secure as much backing as possible."

And whilst Ryan would relish the chance to continue to shine in the single seater forum he is very much drawn to sportscars. "To go into say the British GT series would mean a huge jump" says Ryan, "But I would like to continue driving all sorts of cars. My Dad's dream is to see me at Le Mans one day. We try and visit each year and make a real holiday of it. It's a fantastic atmosphere and you can get so close to all the action and see the preparations up close."

Whilst juggling a promising racing career, Ryan also has to make a living which means it is difficult to pursue would be backers etc whilst holding down a full time job but he has had a lot of support from work colleagues. Sadly, he has recently been made redundant but he is turning this very much into a positive and taking the opportunity to push further into the world of motor racing and hopes to become an instructor.

We wish Ryan all the best with his ambitions and eagerly watch his progress.

Ryan is without doubt a great talent behind the wheel, and having spoken to him it further impresses on me the need for the motorsport community to get behind the wealth of talent out there. The community needs a structured and opened base to help these drivers of tomorrow develop and having recently spoken to representatives in Australia where plans are afoot for an academy system, Great Britain needs to seriously consider how best we can support and nurture our youngsters.

©Rebecca Hobbs

(c)RH PR 2007