John Mann: Champion driver whose life has spanned the greatest period of Australian motor racing

In November 2019 I met John Mann at the Island Magic meeting at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in southern Victoria. John has a long and illustrious career in motorsport so it was great to have a chat. John, who is now eighty and despite a battle with cancer, is still racing. In the chat John covered • His first car, an open wheeler, he made himself • The many cars he raced • He nursed about eight of the current supercar drivers when they were babies. Craig Lowndes’ father was his pit crew manager. • As a young mechanic and he made a mistake that costs a world champion bike rider the race. He had to escape and hide out for a while • His Friendship with Barry Sheene and his own fight with cancer An edited version of the interview appeared in the Overdrive radio program first broadcast on 7 December 2019. http://drivenmedia.com.au/wp/overdrive-machine-the-movie-artificial-intelligence-automated-cars-classic-cars-and-democracy/ We also produced a video of several other characters who were racing at the meeting “Reflections from Phillip Island” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDAngSR5EMw