Dean Canto

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Dean Canto
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1980-09-24) 24 September 1980 (age 40) Sydney, New South Wales
Supercars Championship career
Championships	0
Races	156
Wins	2
Podiums	5
Pole positions	0
2019 position	44th (326 pts)

Dean Justin Canto (born 24 September 1980) is a multiple-championship winning Australian motor racing driver. Best noted as a Supercars driver, Canto was the inaugural winner of the second-tier V8 Supercar development series in 2000, and the first to become a multiple-champion five years later. Canto has been a regular in the main Supercars Championship for a variety of teams racing both full-time and as a part-time endurance race co-driver.

Racing career[]

After winning a national and two state titles in kart racing, Canto graduated to the Australian GT Production Car Championship and finished the Championship in 11th overall, and second within Class B in which his Subaru Impreza WRX raced. He then backed up this performance with a victory in the 1998 Sandown 1 Hour driving a Maserati Ghibli co-driving with Alfredo Costanzo.^[1] Another second in class placing followed in 1999 driving a Ford Mondeo in the Independents class of the Australian Super Touring Championship.

Later that year, Canto made his V8 Supercar début in the Shell Championship Series at Oran Park Raceway then went on to drive in the Queensland 500 and Bathurst Classic as well as racing his Mondeo at the Bathurst 1000.

In 2000, Canto won the inaugural Konica V8 Lites Series^[1] driving a Ford EL Falcon under the banner of Dean Canto Racing. In 2001, Canto drove with Ford Tickford Racing at the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. He achieved a ninth placing in the Queensland 500 and fifth with teammate Jim Richards in the Bathurst 1000.^[1] Canto added another title with his victory in the Young Guns races at the Honda IndyCar Carnival, a one-make event for emerging young drivers in road specification Honda Integras.

In 2002, Canto became co-driver to Max Wilson at Briggs Motor Sport and in 2003, achieved a full-time drive with the same team. Canto was diagnosed with Alopecia Universalis, a very rare medical condition that causes rapid hair loss to the body. Medical advice reassured Canto that the condition would, in no way, affect his overall health. With concerns allayed, Canto then took the time to adjust to the condition, renew his confidence and focus, stronger than ever, on more driving success.^{[citation needed]}

In the later half of the 2003 season, Canto pulled off a number of strong performances and top 10 finishes and was awarded the VIP Top Dog award, however it was not enough for Canto to keep his full-time drive. Canto was retained as the endurance race co-driver with team under its new ownership identity of Triple Eight Race Engineering for the 2004 season.

The following year Dick Johnson Racing appointed Canto to drive the Gatorz Racing Development Series Ford Falcon. The season proved a success. Canto won five of the seven rounds, qualified on pole position on six of seven occasions, won nine of the ten races where he started on the front row of the grid and won ten races in total. Canto's times were so fast that he could qualify in the Supercars Top 20 (even though the Development cars had a 100 kg lead weight disadvantage). He set new Development Series lap records at Adelaide and Wakefield Park and new qualifying lap records at the Clipsal 500 and Queensland rounds. At the season's conclusion he became the first driver ever to win two Development Series Championships.^[2]

Canto proved once again his worth as an endurance driver teaming up with Glenn Seton at the endurance rounds in a DJR Falcon. The pair finished ninth at Bathurst even with an engine misfire.

Canto's performance in 2005 caught the attention of Garry Rogers Motorsport team Principal Garry Rogers. He asked Canto to fill the vacant seat of the #34 Valvoline Repco Cummins VZ Commodore for the Indy 300 and Tasmanian rounds of the V8 Supercar Championship Series. The car finished well and both team and driver realised that a longer term relationship would be beneficial for team and driver. Canto signed a multi year deal with GRM as the team's lead driver for their assault on the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series.^[3]

The 2006 series saw Canto achieve his first win in the main category, the reverse grid race at Barbagallo Raceway. After a difficult 2007 season, Canto's GRM contract was cut leaving Canto without a full-time drive in 2008.^[4] Canto returned to the Development series with Howard Racing but just missed out on his third title, finishing second to Steve Owen.^[5]

Since then Canto has competed as an endurance co-driver with Ford Performance Racing under its numerous banners from 2008–2018. His time there included a 2nd place at the Bathurst 1000 in 2012, and a win at the Gold Coast 600 in 2014, both alongside long time teammate, David Reynolds.

In 2019, Canto competed in his 21st Bathurst 1000 alongside Macauley Jones at Brad Jones Racing.^[6]

Career results[]

The VIP Holdings Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Dean Canto drove at the opening round of the 2015 Australian GT Championship

Complete Bathurst 1000 results[]

Year	Team	Car	Co-driver	Position	Laps
1999	Graphic Skills Racing	Holden Commodore VS	Wayne Wakefield	DNF	46
2000	Dean Canto Racing	Ford Falcon AU	Ian Moncreiff	DNF	56
2001	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford Falcon AU	Jim Richards	5th	161
2002	Briggs Motor Sport	Ford Falcon AU	Max Wilson	DNF	108
2003	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon BA	Matthew White	DNF	147
2004	Triple Eight Race Engineering	Ford Falcon BA	Yvan Muller	DNF	138
2005	Dick Johnson Racing	Ford Falcon BA	Glenn Seton	9th	158
2006	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden Commodore VZ	Lee Holdsworth	17th	129
2007	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden Commodore VE	Lee Holdsworth	DNF	118
2008	Ford Performance Racing	Ford Falcon BF	Luke Youlden	7th	161
2009	Ford Performance Racing	Ford Falcon FG	Luke Youlden	DNF	139
2010	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG	Paul Dumbrell	14th	161
2011	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG	Paul Dumbrell	DNF	144
2012	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG	David Reynolds	2nd	161
2013	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG	David Reynolds	9th	161
2014	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG	David Reynolds	DNF	117
2015	Rod Nash Racing	Ford Falcon FG X	David Reynolds	6th	161
2016	Prodrive Racing Australia	Ford Falcon FG X	Mark Winterbottom	DNF	132
2017	Prodrive Racing Australia	Ford Falcon FG X	Mark Winterbottom	DNF	159
2018	Tickford Racing	Ford Falcon FG X	Mark Winterbottom	12th	161
2019	Tim Blanchard Racing	Holden Commodore ZB	Macauley Jones	16th	160

References[]

External links[]

• Dean Canto at the V8 Supercars official website
• Dean Canto at Driver Database
• Dean Canto at Speedsport Magazine
• Profile at Racing Reference