TARMAC ace John Stone strolled to victory on the Promenade Stages, dominating the Wallasey-based event in his Skoda Fabia WRC.

Stone, co-driven for the first time by Matthew Whattam from York, took a convincing victory in his Legend Fires-backed machine, setting no fewer than eight – from a possible ten – fastest stage times.

The Blackburn businessman took top honours in 2005 when, together with long-term co-driver Lee Carter, he brought his MG Metro 6R4 to victory.

Since that time Chris Davies and Brandon Parker had recorded four successive wins and the Darrian T90 crew were looking to add a fifth victory to their tally on Saturday, until Stone scuppered their plans!

At the finish, Stone said “Everything’s gone right today.

"I was a bit tentative on the first stage giving second best to Chris (Davies) but thereafter it was maximum attack.

"I could afford to back off a bit towards the finish, but having said that you can’t back off too much with the Skoda!”

The rally, which is run over closed roads on New Brighton Promenade, attracts competitors from the length and breadth of the British Isles and is regarded as one of the best events of its kind.

But other East Lancashire crews fared less well.

Clitheroe’s Ross Miller and co-driver Grant Williams looked set to grab a top haul of SD34 Stage Rally Championship points as they headed into the final stage but it wasn’t to be.

The brakes on their Peugeot 206 locked up going into a hairpin corner and the inevitable impact with a kerb pushed a wheel back into the arch snapping the steering arm in the process.

The incident brought instant retirement, and later Miller said “We’d had a few dodgy moments on the previous stage dropping about 30 seconds and I was trying to pull it back.”

It wasn’t a good day either for Nelson duo Michael Judson and Paul Blanchard, who retired their Vauxhall Astra midway through stage seven when the engine went ‘bang’.

A hole in the block allowed oil to spray onto the exhaust manifold causing concern to the crew about a potential fire risk.”

It was a better day however for Oswaldtwistle exile Phil Peak who co-drove Derek Blyth to 14th overall in the Active Ark Mitsubishi Lancer Evo6.