It was touted as the homecoming of North Queensland mango farmer turned race car driver, John Magro, as part of the Australian GT’s North Queensland based round in Townsville.

Despite the John Magro Oakdare Holdings team missing out on a top five finish in both races, it was a round that provided a welcome clutch of solid results for the team, following a horror start to the season with vehicle issues.

After featuring in the top five during the early parts of the opening race at the Townsville Street Circuit, brake overheating issues restricted Magro to a sixth place finish that delivered hope for improved results if the mechanical issues could be resolved in the turnaround before the final race.

“We were happy with our performance in race one and knew that if we could make the appropriate adjustments to the Lambo, we could try to match the race pace being set by the Audi’s and Ferrari’s up front. We managed to change out the brake pads to another material that did resolve the heating issues that had cost us a few spots in race one.” Magro said of the race one results that saw the team succumb to the superior speed on display by some of the front running heavy weights of the championship.
Race two saw the John Magro Oakdare Holdings team record a seventh place finish, despite obvious struggles maintaining their race speed during several sections of the Townville circuit, as a result of limited rear traction.

“We knew that we had to push the Lambo to stay in touch with the front runners and ultimately, the adjustments we made to the suspension and aero configuration, while they did provide us with improved straight-line speed, costs us in reduced mechanical rear grip which, on a street circuit like Townsville, proved to be more of a problem than a solution.”

Spirits were still high in the team garage despite the results falling short of the expectations of some, with the home crowd backing, strong on-track sponsor support and family presence proving to be a result that even Magro himself couldn’t be disappointed with.

“I had hoped for slightly better results and believed that we were on track to register our first top five finish this season. With that being said, we know that we again proved that a small team from North Queensland can challenge some of the factory drivers and teams on our day and I couldn’t be happier with the support that we had from within the team and from the home crowd here in Townsville. It certainly helped clear my mind, being able to come back into the garage with my full team, family, and sponsors like Oakdare Holdings, Fabbro Diesel Services and DM Group attending in full force to show their support for what we are trying to achieve here.”

The John Magro Oakdare Holdings team now look forward to the Sydney round of the Australian GT and having recorded two solid results without a major incident for the first time this season, their ambitions to achieve even better results, even as a clear underdog, is not looking like waning anytime soon.

John Magro Racing is supported in 2015 by McMillan Motorsport with sponsorship support from key partners including Oakdare Holdings, Magro Motorsport, Tahitian Lime Swimwear, Fabbro Diesel Services, DM Group, Wade Lewis Art, McMillan Motorsports, Realised Technologies, Global Skunkworks, and Ceekay Jones.

More details about John Magro Racing can be found on the Official website at www.johnmagro.com.au or by following ‘John Magro (Athlete)’ on Facebook.