Dean Canto

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Dean Canto (born September 24, 1980, in the Sydney) was an Australian V8 Supercar driver.

In just four years of top level competitive motor sport racing, Dean Canto has quickly established himself as one of the most promising young drivers on the Australian motor racing scene.

After winning a national and two state titles in go-kart racing, Dean graduated to the Australian GT Production Car Championship and finished the Championship in second place. He then backed up this outstanding performance with another second placing in the Australian Super Touring Championship.

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

In his first full season of V8 racing in 2000, Canto exploded onto the scene by winning the inaugural Konica V8 Lites Championship - a very impressive result for the 20 year old.

In 2001 Canto drove with Ford Tickford Racing/Glenn Seton Racing at the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000. He achieved a ninth placing in the Queensland 500 and later showed the V8 Supercar community his talent by placing fifth with team-mate Jim Richards in the Bathurst 1000. Dean drove for two thirds of the race and was instrumental in the team's success.

It was an impressive year - Canto added another title with his victory in the Young Guns at the Honda IndyCar Carnival. The title reinforced that Canto was one of the hottest prospects in V8 Supercar.

In 2002, Canto became co-driver to Max Wilson in Briggs Motorsport and in 2003, achieved a full time drive with BM (Briggs Motorsport). There was a concern about his health though. By mid-year, Canto's results told the story of his loss of confidence. He 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.

The result of the new, more confident, Canto was immediate and stunning. In the later half of the season, he pulled off a number of strong performances and top 10 finishes. He was awarded the VIP Top Dog award.

In 2004, Dean was retained as the Endurance Driver with Triple Eight Race Engineering for the endurance rounds.

The following year Dick Johnson Racing appointed Dean to drive the Gatorz Racing Development Series Ford Falcon. The season proved a huge success with Canto showcasing his abilities as a serious V8 driver. He won five of the seven rounds, qualified in pole position on six of seven occasions, won 9 of the 10 races where he started on the front row of the grid and won 10 races in total. Canto's times were so fast that he could qualify in the top 20 (even though the Development cars had a 100kg lead weight disadvantage). He set new race 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.

He proved once again his worth as an endurance driver teaming up with Glenn Seton at the endurance rounds. The pair finished 9th at Bathurst even with an engine misfire.

Canto's outstanding performance in 2005 caught the attention of GRM Team Principal – Garry Rogers. He asked Dean to fill the vacated 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. Dean signed a multi year deal with GRM as the team's lead driver for their assault on the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series.

The 2006 series saw Dean achieve his first win in the main category, the reverse grid race at Barbagallo Raceway. After a lack lustre 2007 season Canto's GRM contract was cut leaving Canto without a full time drive in 2008.^[1]

[edit] Career Highlights

2008 Signed by Howard Racing to drive in the V8 Supercar Development Series. Also signed by FPR to drive in the 2008 V8 Supercar main series endurance races

2006 Contracted by Garry Rogers Motorsport to drive in the V8 Supercar Series. He controversially won the reverse grid race at round 3 at Barbagallo Raceway

2005 Moved to Dick Johnson Racing and drove the #71 Gatorz HPDC Championship Series Winner – 1st driver to win development Series twice. Drove with Glenn Seton in the endurance rounds. Drove with Garry Rogers Motorsport at the end of the season to replace Andrew Jones as he was fired.

2004 Retained as an endurance driver with Triple Eight Race Engineering

2003 Signed to ten year management deal with John Briggs Motorsport but dropped from team at years end under new ownership of Triple Eight Race Engineering – a number of Top 10 finishes

2002 Co-driver with Max Wilson for Team Betta Electrical

2001 Winner of the Young Guns at Honda IndyCar, 5th place at Bathurst and 8th place at Queensland 500 with FTR

2000 Champion of the Konica V8 Lites Series

1999 2nd place in the TOCA Super Tourers Independent's Cup

1998 2nd place in Class B GT Production Championship

1996 NSW State Junior Go-Kart Champion, National Junior Go-Kart Champion

[edit] References

[edit] Career results

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1998	Australian GT-Production Car Championship	11th	Subaru Impreza WRX
1999	Australian Super Touring Championship	7th	Ford Mondeo	Knight Racing
2000	V8 Supercar Development Series	1st	Ford Falcon EL	Dean Canto Racing
2001	V8Supercar Championship Series	32nd	Ford Falcon AU	RPM International Racing Glenn Seton Racing
2002	V8Supercar Championship Series	44th	Ford Falcon AU	Briggs Motor Sport
2003	V8Supercar Championship Series	24th	Ford Falcon BA	Team Betta Electrical
2005	V8Supercar Championship Series	35th	Ford Falcon BA Holden Commodore VZ	Dick Johnson Racing Garry Rogers Motorsport
2005	V8 Supercar Development Series	1st	Ford Falcon BA	Dick Johnson Racing
2006	V8Supercar Championship Series	17th	Holden Commodore VZ	Garry Rogers Motorsport
2007	V8Supercar Championship Series	16th	Holden Commodore VE	Garry Rogers Motorsport

Preceded by inaugural	Winner of the V8Supercar Development Series 2000	Succeeded by Simon Wills
Preceded by Andrew Jones	Winner of the V8Supercar Development Series 2005	Succeeded by Adam Macrow