Image: Tomomitsu Kato.

Australian rising talent Josh Hook has set his sights on the 2015 All Japan Road Race Championship with the highly-regarded TSR Honda outfit, a move which could springboard him into the world championship in the following years.

Hook, 21, has been outstandingly quick this season as part of Team Honda Racing, winning the Phillip Island Championship and finishing fifth in the Australasian Superbike Championship with a round win to his credit despite sustaining serious injuries in February.

After a strong guest appearance during the final round of the 2014 All Japan season where he finished with and eighth and ninth in the pair of rain-soaked races, Hook is certain the Japanese domestic series will assist in his development for international competition.

“The All-Japan championship is very competitive and there are a lot of fast guys there,” Hook told CycleOnline. “There are a lot of guys who have raced in the world championship before, but are now back in Japan, so the quality is very high.

“Going back to race at Suzuka this year in the All Japan race was a massive eye-opener for me, because there are over 10 factory bikes on the grid. The competitiveness is high and it’s a professional series, so it’s a massive step forward in my career.

“I’m looking to go over there, work with TSR Honda and HRC, build a good relationship and then move onto the world championship after racing there in Japan. The specification of the machine we race over there is high – it’s pretty much a World Superbike spec and will be a massive learning curve, so I’m excited for that.”

The extent of TSR’s interest in Hook was made clear at Sydney Motorsport Park’s ASC finale, where TSR chairman Masa Fujii and staff from the Japanese factory were on hand to further evaluate Hook as guests of Team Honda Racing.