Owen’s drive for the top
Daniel Renfrey
KOONWARRA’s Owen Schnoor heads into the opening race of the Victorian Mini Sprints season on Saturday with his eye on the road and his mind on big things.
Currently holding the 2018/19 Victorian Mini Sprints championship, the 19-year-old is determined to race his way to the top yet again and compete well during this season’s nationals.
“I’m aiming to go back-to-back and win the championship again,” he said.
“One of my biggest goals too is to place in the top five in the Australian titles in Nyora on April 5.”
The teenage top-speeder has the talent to do this, developing well last season and emerging the overall leader after a 20-race season, which stretched from November to May.
Winning the championship was a huge privilege for Owen, whose father Darren won it the year before, and grandfather … won it four times 30 years ago.
“It was one of my biggest achievements,” he said.
“It meant more to me than anything I’ve won before because I’m the third generation in my family to win the championship.”
Although Owen has only been in the sport for three years, participating in mini sprint racing and developing has been a grind.
On top of staying in shape, a lack of sponsorship has meant he and his father have had to pay out of their pockets for their cars and parts.
“You don’t need to train a lot, you just need to be able to drive at high speeds for a long time, but you do have to be fit because it takes a lot out of you,” he said.
“It’s just about buying your car and putting it together, which is a bit harder for my father and I with a lack of sponsors, but we still try to upgrade because it improves performance.”
Despite any hurdles however, Owen’s passion is the driving factor behind his fast development.
It is this passion which keeps him hungry for this upcoming season.
“I’ve raced since I was younger, with motorbikes. I just have that need for speed and like an adrenaline rush,” he said.
“In racing you always have competition, there’s some great racers out there, and it’s different because you can really get close to the opposition, wheel to wheel, and just get that adrenaline pumping. I’ve just got a passion for going fast.”
Owen will put the pedal to the metal on Saturday in the opening race of the season and is set to start the racing year in style.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Nov 12 2019. Filed under News, Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
