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Meet motorsport's 'Peter Pan': Andrew MacLean

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Published on 27 August 2012

 

When Andrew MacLean was a boy he dreamed of being a race car driver. Eventually a ‘real’ job, family and a mortgage got in the way and his dream slipped out of reach. Or so he thought. Competing for the chance to drive the Shannons V8 Supercar at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, the father of two is defying the odds by proving he is a serious contender in the Shannons Supercar Showdown.
 
 The Merewether (NSW) based MacLean may be competing against drivers closer to his son’s age than his own, but the competition’s self proclaimed ‘Peter Pan’ says he is fighting for “middle-aged, delusional, over-weight men to re-live their dreams”.
 
 “This is an incredible opportunity…it’s something I thought I'd closed the door on a long time ago. It's an opportunity that I'm going to embrace with both arms and see how far I can go. I'm not here to make up the numbers, and I'm not going to give up on that dream that easily,” says MacLean. 
 
 The editor of ‘Motor’ magazine grew up in a family heavily involved in rally cars. By the time he was 16 MacLean was racing go-karts at club level, however in his early twenties he gave up going professional for a ‘real job’. At 39, Andrew still lives and breathes the sport, even if that means reporting from the sidelines. 
 
“This is actually my first and my last chance probably at getting to Bathurst, [I have] reported on Bathurst for the last fifteen, sixteen years and always thought that it was out of my reach. Cars, apart from my family, are probably the most important part of my life. They're my passion, they are what I love,” said MacLean. 
 
So far the competition’s oldest competitor has had to resit his learner driver test, race a go-kart for the first time in 20 years and compete in a gruelling fitness challenge, in order to survive the competition’s first five eliminations. 
 
Despite these obstacles, MacLean has managed to top the class in the car control and braking challenges, earning the praise of Kelly Racing owners and competition judges Rick and Todd Kelly. Rick believes MacLean’s years of experience will only help him as the competition heats up.
 
“Andrew's obviously the oldest guy in the competition. But he's got a lot of experience under his belt. He's done a little bit of racing in his earlier days but as the editor of Motor magazine, he's been able to drive all sorts of different performance cars and in this competition I think that's really going to help him. Particularly to adapt to not only the Renault Megane but the V8 Supercar if he's lucky enough to make it that far,” says Rick Kelly.
 
With 5 drivers left standing between MacLean and his dream of driving in this year’s 50th Anniversary of the Great Race alongside TV Host Grant Denyer, it’s sure to be one great race!
 
Shannons Supercar Showdown airs Saturdays on 7Mate (check local guides for times)