Livewire Queensland Mango Farmer John Magro will make his debut in the fourth round of the 2009 MINI Challenge at Sandown Raceway this weekend.
The talented North Queenslander was more than just an interested onlooker at the third round of MINI Challenge at the Townsville 400, he spent most of the weekend soaking up the pits atmosphere and chatting with various personalities within the group about lining up at the next round.
Now, the open wheel wizard is set to saddle up in a John Cooper Works (or JCW as we call it) R56 MINI Challenge car at the famed Sandown Raceway!
“John is a very exciting competitor,” says someone who should know, F3 guru and commentator Race Torque Media’s Richard Craill, “in both Formula Ford and F3 he showed tremendous potential in a very short space of time. He was causing the big names some grief almost immediately, you couldn’t help but notice.”
Magro was suitably impressed with what he saw at Townsville and locked in early for Sandown.
“John’s a terrific young racer,” says MINI Challenge Category Rights Holder Ted Toleman, “we’re very excited about having him join us for Sandown.”
Admittedly the foundation for Magro’s Motorsport evolution has been in the open wheel ranks (though he started off in Speedway) where he shared time between F3 and Formula Ford in both State and National competition.
The 23 year old from Mareeba in North Queensland has no previous MINI experience coming into Sandown, but that’s unlikely to hinder the talented wheel twister.
“The MINI Challenge cars don’t take long at all to get your head around,” conceded Townsville debutant and UBER Star driver (not to mention celebrated Aussie World Rally Championship contender) Chris Atkinson after his initial drive, “the handling and the braking are really quite breathtaking so you can be rewarded for braking very late.”
That’s an attribute that Richard Craill believes will suit Magro well.
“One of John’s strong points is his corner speed, particularly his approach. He’s aggressive but smooth. I think his style will suit the MINI Challenge JCW cars well.”
Magro’s inclusion into the ranks for Round Four of the MINI Challenge this weekend (July 31-Aug 2) will add another wild card into the already impressive array of racing talent on hand.
