Canto canters on
August 31st 2007 00:06
Dean Canto
Born in Sydney in September 1980, Dean Canto is another young gun picked up by the Garry Rogers Motorsport Team, driving alongside Lee Holdsworth in the #34 Valvoline Cummins VE Commodore.
Like many of his racing compatriots, Canto started his racing career at a young age in karts with highlights of his karting experience including NSW champion and National champion in 1996. Leaving the open-wheelers behind, the teenager then graduated to the GT Production Car Championship, taking out second place overall in the 1998 season.
1999 saw the young Dean compete in the Australian Super Touring Championship, again attaining an impressive second placing overall. It was this year that Canto experienced V8 racing for the first time, debuting in the Shell Championship Series at Oran Park and taking part in the endurance races, the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000.
At the age of 20, Canto experienced his first year of full-time V8 racing, competing in the inaugural Konica V8 Lites Championship. He finished the season at the top of the points table, taking out the championship in impressive style.
In 2001, Canto once more tried his hand in the V8 Supercar endurance races, snapped up by Ford Tickford Racing and placing a vary handy ninth at the Queensland 500 and fifth at Bathurst, partnering the experienced Jim Richards. That same year also saw Canto take victory in the Young Guns at the Honda IndyCar Carnival, topping off an impressive year for the young driver.
In 2003, Canto finally acquired a full-time ride with V8 Supercar team, BMT, however the year was disrupted when issues with his health caused uncertainty and a lack of confidence. Finally he was diagnosed with a rare disorder called Alopecia Universalis, a condition that causes a rapid and dramatic hair loss. He was assured that it wouldn’t affect his overall health, though, and, with a renewed confidence, Canto finished the season with a number of top ten finishes.
He was rewarded for all his hard work under pressure by scoring the VIP Top Dog award for 2003.
Triple Eight Racing took Dean Canto in 2004 as endurance driver, followed by another move in 2005 when he joined Dick Johnson Racing to drive their Gatorz Racing HPDC Series Ford BA Falcon. More success followed with wins in five of the seven rounds, six pole position starts and 10 race wins. He set lap records at Adelaide and Wakefield Park, and qualifying lap records at Adelaide and Willowbank, and finished the season as the first ever driver to win Development Series Championships.
Bathurst was once more kind to Canto in 2005 when he finished the endurance race in ninth alongside veteran Glenn Seton in his Dick Johnson Racing Falcon.
Garry Rogers was impressed with Canto’s performance in 2005 and subsequently asked Dean to fill an empty seat in the #34 Commodore for two rounds in the senior V8 Supercar series. Satisfactory results in these two races saw Garry Rogers offer Canto a more permanent relationship with the team starting in 2006.
After a short settling in period in 2006, Dean achieved his best result yet; a race win in the senior V8 Supercar category at Barbagello.
Dean Canto had arrived and has not looked back since, laying claim to the #34 Valvoline Cummins Commodore and determined not to relinquish his hold.
Some Canto fast facts:
Date of Birth: 24/09/1980
Place of Birth: Sydney, NSW
Lives: Melbourne, VIC
Marital Status: Married
Height: 165cm
Weight: 68kg
Nickname: Dino
Hobbies & Interests: Mountain biking, rock climbing, water skiing and music
Favourite Circuits: Bathurst and Adelaide
Favourite Race Track: Bathurst
Least Favourite Race Track: Willowbank
Racing Hero: Ayrton Senna
Most Memorable Moment: First V8 race win at Perth in 2006
Admires Most in Others: Honesty
Person Most Like to Meet: Halle Berry, Valentino Rossi
First V8 Supercar Race: 1999 Queensland 500
First Bathurst: 1999
First Major Crash: Bathurst 1999
Image of Dean Canto courtesy of Garry Rogers Motorsport
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