Kyle Symington. Photo by Pacepix
After an incredible 2023 season in the cart, Kyle Symington will head to NSW next weeks to represent WA in the Australasian Young Drivers Championship.
The week will consist of nine heats spread across five consecutive days, with the final heat and race day on the pinnacle of Australasian racing, the 2024 Inter Dominion Grand Final at Menangle on Saturday December 14.
To be eligible for the series, each driver must be under the age of 25 as of the 1st of January that year and day one of the series kicks off on Tuesday the 10th of December, with Symington set to compete in two heats at Menangle.
Day two comprises of two heats at Bathurst on Wednesday, December 11, followed by a following two heats on Thursday the 12th at Penrith, then they head to Newcastle on Friday the 13th with another two heats for the young drivers championship.
“It will be great (to liase with other young drivers) as well as trainers over there, and I guess a different racing style over there to what I’m used to.
“I had a really good season last year and that gave me the opportunity (to head to the Australasian Young Drivers Championship) and its good to get some reward for the effort.”
When asked if he ever thought his career would get to this point, Symington responded “Definitely not, I went to Uni because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it but thankfully it has turned out to be a successful choice.”
2023 saw Symington end the season on 102 winning drives at just his third season in harness racing, with a lot of his success attributed to his connection to his employer Ryan Bell and the opportunities to drive quality horses.
He made his debut in 2021 and in August that same year he brought up his first winning drive at Wagin on board Fleur Du Maquis for trainer Bianca Ashcroft.
In 2022 he drove his first Group 1 winner, with Miss Limelight taking out the $150,000 Mares Classic
In just his fourth season of driving, Symington currently sits on 290 career wins, a remarkable feat for a young driver who only made his way into harness racing in his teens.
“It took me ages to get my first winner, and it was hard to get drives to begin with.
“It wouldn’t have helped (that I didn’t come from a racing background), because no one knew who I was, and they wouldn’t have seen me around the races long before I started driving.”
Racing WA currently has 15 junior drivers completing the newest program to be introduced, the Driving Ahead program and Symington had some words of advice.
“You have to surround yourself with people that will support you and have your best interests at heart and there will be tough days and tough weeks but if its what you want to do, you just have to be dedicated and stick at it.
“When I did the Albany season, that kind of helped me get my momentum because I was getting a full book almost every week and had quite a bit of success down there and that got the ball rolling.”
Symington heads to Sydney on Monday, December 9 ahead of the Australasian Young Drivers Championship the following day.
The drivers of the Australasian Young Drivers Championship:
Corey Johnson (SA)
Crystal Hackett (NZ)
Ewa Justice (VIC)
Jacob Duggan (TAS)
Josh Gallagher (NSW)
Kerryn Tomlinson (NZ)
Kyle Symington (WA)
Sam Thornley (NZ)
Taleah McMullen (QLD)
Will Rixon (NSW)
