While most Northern Beaches 8 year olds keep busy with surfing, skating, footy, dancing and gymnastics, there’s a young lad from Cromer laser focused on the 2026 Australian Karting Championship.
“I started watching F1 and the V8 Supercars with my Opa when I was 5 years old” beams Cooper. “And I’ve been karting for 3 years and just love it.” His mum Roxy continues, “Cooper has a raw talent for speed. When he was 6 years old, he was reaching speeds of up to 90km/h down the straight!”
Cooper drives for Sydney’s TopGun Racing Team, powered by a 60cc Mini Rok engine. His chassis is from the renowned leading brand OTK out of Italy, the best in the business. He competes in Karting Australia race events in the Cadet 9 Division (6 years – 9 years old). And most weekends you’ll find him out at the track, doing what he loves, practicing and completing laps.
“Last year we had our first taste at National level in the NSW leg of the Australian Karting Championship,” says his Dad, Tim.
In the 2025 season, Cooper placed 2nd overall in the Greater Sydney Club Championship, a big achievement. He was also crowned champion in the inaugural NSW Southern Trophy Series.
“Another season highlight was Melbourne City Titles and South Australia State Titles,” says Tim. “Cooper finished an impressive 6th out of 25 drivers in Adelaide and 12th of 32 drivers in Melbourne. Not bad for first time at the track!”
Preparing for the track involves a lot of leg work and commitment. The weekend begins on Friday and Saturday practice which flows into qualifying. Karting is a very competitive sport that is separated by sometimes less than 1 second between 20 drivers. Sundays are the time for heats and finals.
Over an entire race weekend Cooper drives up to 100 kilometres, keeping the year 3 Cromer Public School student super fit. Along the way there are plenty of challenges. Adrenal glands go into overdrive and sometimes mistakes are made. There’s a need to push, which always works towards building resilience. Sometimes more tough days than good.
“TopGun have been an amazing support as our family have not come from a motorsport background. We have great coaches and Dad has become my mechanic,” says Cooper. “Preparing the kart and making sure it’s just right for the track conditions, it’s so important to help me get the best results.”
There’s no shortage of travel involved, the Club Championships taking place in Eastern Creek, Port Macquarie, Griffith, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo, while National competition obviously requires more arduous journeys. Thankfully, as well as the time pushing his Kart to the limit, Cooper really enjoys traveling to different tracks with his family and spending time with his karting mates.
“This year my aim is to compete at all five rounds of the Australian Karting Championship,” says Cooper. The opening round beckons 13-15 March in Coffs Harbour. Other venues confirmed are Ipswich, Townsville, Adelaide and Seymour in Victoria.
“I’m just going to go fast, have fun, and try my best.” Let’s go Cooper!!
7Plus will stream the seaon’s action live and free! So be sure to tune in.
Follow @cooperottaway on Instagram, and if you’re a local business owner that wants
to support this speed demon, call 0412 025 659 – team Ottaway would love to hear from you.