John Stone has been a frontrunning competitor in the Motorsport UK Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship for more than 20 years – and with an undiminished enthusiasm for rallying the Blackburn ace remains a fierce competitor and title contender.
In the modern era of the Protyre-backed sealed-surface series, John has finished a close third in 2019 and 2022 and fourth in 2021 in the overall driver standings. He scored Protyre Asphalt victory on the 2019 Down Rally (driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC) and made his debut in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 on the 2021 PokerStars, taking home third-placed points.
This will be John’s fourth season in his always immaculate Legend Fires National Rally Team-run Polo, and in 2024 the car will appear in a stunning new dual colour scheme – with red on one side depicting gas-fuelled and wood burning Legend Fires appliances and blue on the other side representing electric-powered devices.
The new season kicks off with his home event, and a rally that John sponsors – the Legend Fires North West Stages (22/23 March).
The entry for that event, and indeed the 2024 Motorsport UK Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship, is superb – with a glittering gathering of top Rally2 and R5 cars and crews. It’s going to be an incredible season opener, and John and co-driver Laura Marshall are looking forward to it.
“I’d like to think that I’d be there or there abouts and have as good a chance as anybody else,” says John about the season ahead.
“New drivers have come to the fore in the Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship in recent years – the likes of Callum Black, Neil Roskell and Mark Kelly. If they were to slip up, I feel that I’ve still got it in me to be there to capitalise.
“I used to turn up at somewhere like Epynt, when everyone who is anyone on Epynt was competing, thinking ‘I’m going to win this’ – but I’m sixty years old now and have to be realistic. I train hard in the gym so that I can get the maximum out of myself, and the aim now is to do the very best I can.
“The entry for the North West Stages is fantastic. Getting a good Protyre Asphalt Rally Championship points finish will be more important than an overall result. It’s a long season, so you have to play the long game.”
Be the first to comment