John Shorter - SR22

John has been involved in Autograss for most of his 25 years! John's Dad, Tony was already racing when John was born in 1979 but stopped in 1981.

John has attended nearly every Mens National Championships since 1982 and, along with Tony, started working on a Class 1 early in 1992. Tony raced the Mini during the 1992 and 1993 seasons and then set about building a new car for 1994.

John's first meeting was at Shropshire & Telford Autograss Club at Crudgington, Telford in March 1994 in the Mini that had been raced during the previous two seasons. It was a wet day and the track had been relocated at the venue during the Winter. John managed a creditable 4th in his first final and had a successful season at club level sharing the car with Tony.

In 1995, he was unlucky not to make the Junior Nationals final at Tenby. He had finished the qualifying heats with a win and two thirds which left him one point short of making the final. This was his final year in Juniors.

John moved into Class 1 for 1996. John and Tony had put a lot of time into building an engine prior to the season, and this really paid off as John went on to be very successful in Class 1 at club level and only missed out on the Mens Nationals by one position in the league. During 1996, Tony had purchased a Class 4 mini which John raced in the September at Evesham.

The Class 1 Mini was sold at the end of 1996 and the Class 4 was re-shelled by John and Tony over that winter. In 1997, John made the Mens Nationals at Tenby and after acheiving two thirds and a fourth in his qualifying heats, got spun out of the run off for the final. John made the Nationals in 1998 and 1999 but with no success, although he did win the Winter Series in 1999, the last one held at Nottinghams track alongside the M1.

In 2000, John's luck started to change. After qualifying for the Nationals at Llandow, John went on to gain a first, second and third in his heats and qualified for his first National Final where he finished 6th. Another re-shell of the Mini took place at the end of 2000.

He has qualified for the National Final in Class 4 since 2000 upto 2005 with his best year being 2003, where he finished fourth. John also finished fourth in the BAS that year too. 2005 saw a Mini Pickup with SR22 on. This had been built by Tony and John and took most of the year to get right. Then at the end of 2005, John decided it was time to change class, with eight years in Class 4 and varying amounts of success - Class 3 loomed! This class has always been a favorite of his since watching his Dad as a kid!

Watch this space to see how John adapts to rear-wheel drive!