Inducted 2013 – Competitor – Road Racing
While he may have competed in various road and karting events over the years, John Magill is best remembered for his organization skills and contributions to the Canadian Auto Sport Clubs on a management level, especially in the field of karting.
After racing karts in the early 1970s, the inductee was invited by the CASC to organize its first national karting program in 1978. In 1980 he hosted Canada’s first FIA/CIK-sanctioned event, at the Ontario Goodwood track, as the CASC’s National Karting Director.
For the next five years, between 1980-85, this inductee served as the CASC National President, along with a role on the FIA motorsport executive committee and as the North American representative for the CIK executive committee.
It was also during this time that he helped to establish the Motorsport Foundation of Canada. One of this group was Gilles Villeneuve, who died two weeks before the official introduction, so it was renamed the Gilles Villeneuve Foundation in honor of the legendary Grand Prix driver. The first funds received were used to purchase computer equipment for the McGill University Sport Group to launch its testing of racecar drivers.
In 1985 he led a successful effort to host the North American World Karting Championships, first qualifying sessions in Las Vegas in 1985 and the Championship rounds in Florida in 1986, the first time this event was held in North America.
Between 1988 and 1993 this inductee organized the Canadian team effort for the first International Karting Friendship Challenge, held in Chicago and involving teams from Canada, the US, and the USSR. This venue proved popular, and was held in several European nations along with an event at the Toronto IndyCar race in 1991.
With his karting duties, this new member of the CMHF served as president of the Ontario Region of the CASC and was also on the ASN Canada advisory board between 1991 and 1995. In 1994, as national karting advisor to ASN Canada, he organized the first Canadian team to compete in the world championships held in France.
But his involvement in Canadian motorsport has not been all work. Along with competing in karting events, he has raced in vintage and endurance events in Canada and abroad, in several vehicles including Corvettes, Camaros, and vintage Porsche 356s and Twin-Cam MGAs.