FOR the third time a motor cycle champion has won the Ken McDonald Memorial Sportstar of the Year award.
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Josh Hook’s super year in 2018 saw him announced the winner from a high quality field at the Taree Region Australia Day awards held at Club Taree.
Other finalists were Eamon Smith (hockey), Harry Croker (rugby league), Holli Wheeler (rugby league) and Claire Van Kampen (swimming).
Smith and Croker both played for Australia at schoolboy level, while Wheeler was a member of the Australian women’s rugby league side that defeated New Zealand. Van Kampen shows great promise in the pool, where she’s competed at national championships.
“The standard of the finalists was exceptional,’’ chairman of the judging panel, Hugh McCrindle OAM, said.
However, Mr McCrindle said Hook, who played a pivotal role in FCC TSR Honda’s victory in the World Endurance Championship, was a deserved winner of the sportstar of the year. Hook was the judging panel’s unanimous choice.
He now joins fellow bike riding champions Troy Bayliss (1999) and Alex Cudlin (2012/2014) as winners of the award.
Three riders make up the team in the world endurance championship, which is decided over six rounds two 24 hour events and four eight hour races.
FCC TSR Honda took out the famous Le Mans 24 hour race en-route to clinching the title. Hook had to make a rushed trip back to Taree after the race as the slab on a house he was building at Old Bar was due to be poured. However, the pour was cancelled because of rain.
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His team was 10 points clear going into the final race in Japan, where a fifth place secured the championship.
“Josh Hook was entrusted with the bulk of the work throughout the race and also rode the final stint to bring home the crown for his French based-team, and he did it in fine style,’’ a report in mcmnews.com.au noted.
Currently home for some R and R, Hook is looking forward to a busy 2019. He’ll again ride for FCC TSR Honda in the world endurance championship while he’s also contest the inaugural MotoE World Cup. This is a class of racing that uses only electric motorcycles. It’ll be contested over five rounds and will be run in conjunction with the MotoGP. There’ll be 18 riders in 12 teams.
Hook and Alex De Angelis from San Marino will ride for Alma Pramac Racing. The championship will start on May 5 at Jerez in Spain.
The sportstar of the year was inaugurated by the Manning River Times in 1960. It is now named in memory of Ken McDonald, a former Times editor who founded the award.