Nitro SuperGP a unique opportunity for Australian A1GP driver John Martin

He is Australia’s most successful A1GP driver, but for Queenslander John Martin the Nitro SuperGP presents a unique opportunity to fill in some gaps in his racing CV before a home crowd.

24-year-old Martin recently secured eighth place in the 2008/2009 A1GPWorld Cup of Motorsport championship standings, the highest placing ever by an Australian in the four seasons of competition.

The final round of the championship at Brands Hatch also saw him become the first Australian to post fastest lap and the second Aussie to lead an A1GP, equalling the achievement of now IndyCar driver Will Power (ironically also at Brands Hatch in the 2005/2006 season).

Yet Martin is still to savour a race victory or step onto the podium with a trio of fourth place finishes in the 08/09 season his best results from 26 starts.

“We had a good year and towards the end of the season we were one of the fastest cars out there,” said Martin.

“It was just unfortunate that we had a bit of bad luck with a few small things in the last few rounds which cost us greatly.

“But we proved we have the speed, so we want to hit the ground running at the Gold Coast and the aim is to win, which would be awesome in front of all my family and friends and people that have supported the team and I over the years.

“The race is still over 160 days away, but the crew are so determined to make it a big weekend on the Gold Coast that they have already started preparing. They want that victory as bad as I do.”

Last year saw Martin, the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Champion, make his Gold Coast debut at the wheel of a Formula 3, winning two out of three races and posting two lap records.

“Formula 3 was awesome,” said Martin. “I had always wanted to race on the Gold Coast because it is such a special track.

“Being a street circuit, which I like a lot, with concrete walls everywhere, you need to be committed to go fast. But at the same time you can’t make any mistakes because the walls are there to bite you if you do.

“It is hard to describe the atmosphere to anyone that has not been to a race week on the Gold Coast before, but it is something you have to see and feel to believe. It is a crazy weekend; from the sound of the cars bouncing off the walls and the highrise buildings, with Main Beach right there, to the airshow above the grandstands and the parties at night.

“The racing is always spectacular with plenty of incidents, it is on the Gold Coast so you know the weather will be great and the girls are out too. But I have a girlfriend so I don’t look!”

For the country lad from Blackwater who went from driving 250 tonne mining trucks to 550kg British Formula 3 cars in 2007, success on the Gold Coast would be another step towards his goal of a career in Formula One. With 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones in his corner as the Australian A1GP seat holder and ex-patriot Australian Alan Docking of Alan Docking Racing (ADR) heading up the engineering team, Martin seems destined to follow in the wheel tracks of former ADR drivers Mika Salo and Mark Webber into the world’s premier openwheeler category.

Ahead of the Nitro SuperGP, Martin will keep sharp with a new challenge. He’ll race in a motorsport league, Superleague Formula, that’s a fusion of two popular sports, football (soccer) and motor racing where drivers represent a football team racing in 750 horsepower V12-powered single seater race cars.