Dean Canto

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. 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

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.

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. Canto returned to the Development series with Howard Racing but just missed out on his third title, finishing second to Steve Owen.

Since then, Canto has competed as an endurance co-driver with Ford Performance Racing under its numerous banners from 2008 to 2018. His time there included a second 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.

Career results

Season Series Position Car Team 1998 Australian GT Production Car Championship 11th Subaru Impreza WRX Edge Motor Sport 1999 Australian Super Touring Championship 7th Ford Mondeo Knight Racing 2000 Konica V8 Lites Series 1st Ford EL Falcon Dean Canto Racing 2001 Shell Championship Series 32nd Ford AU Falcon RPM International RacingGlenn Seton Racing 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 44th Ford AU Falcon Briggs Motor Sport 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 24th Ford BA Falcon Team Betta Electrical 2005 V8 Supercar Championship Series 35th Ford BA FalconHolden VZ Commodore Dick Johnson RacingGarry Rogers Motorsport HPDC V8 Supercar Series 1st Ford BA Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 17th Holden VZ Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 16th Holden VE Commodore Garry Rogers Motorsport 2008 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series 2nd Ford BA Falcon Howard Racing V8 Supercar Championship Series 38th Ford BF Falcon Ford Performance Racing 2009 V8 Supercar Championship Series 52nd Ford FG Falcon Ford Performance Racing 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series 41st Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing Australian Mini Challenge 13th Mini John Cooper Works Challenge 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship 71st Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing V8 Utes Racing Series 36th Holden VE Ute 2012 V8SuperTourer Championship 26th Ford FG Falcon International Motorsport International V8 Supercars Championship 31st Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 2013 International V8 Supercars Championship 35th Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 2014 International V8 Supercars Championship 44th Ford FG Falcon Rod Nash Racing 2015 International V8 Supercars Championship 28th Ford FG X FalconMercedes-Benz E63 AMG Rod Nash RacingErebus Motorsport 2016 International V8 Supercars Championship 47th Ford FG X Falcon Prodrive Racing Australia 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 43rd Ford FG X Falcon Prodrive Racing Australia 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 38th Ford FG X Falcon Tickford Racing 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship 44th Holden ZB Commodore Tim Blanchard Racing

Super2 Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Super2 Series results Year Team No. Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Position Points 2000 Dean Canto Racing 45 Ford EL Falcon EASR1 EASR2 EASR3 PHIR4 PHIR5 PHIR6 ORAR7 ORAR8 ORAR9 LAKR10 LAKR11 LAKR12 MALR13 MALR14 MALR15 1st 229 2005 Dick Johnson Racing 17 Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 WAKR3 WAKR4 WAKR5 EASR6 EASR7 EASR8 QLDR9 QLDR10 QLDR11 MALR12 MALR13 MALR14 BATR15 BATR16 PHIR17 PHIR18 1st 1098 2008 Howard Racing 37 Ford BA Falcon ADER1 ADER2 WAKR3 WAKR4 WAKR5 SANR6 SANR7 SANR8 QLDR9 QLDR10 QLDR11 WINR12 WINR13 WINR14 BATR15 BATR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 2nd 1621

Supercars Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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