The Making Of A Rally Champion

Alex Stone is Britain’s best rally champion of 2017 – here’s why.

- Jack Benyon

I’m only human, after all. I’m only human, after all.”

It’s a fitting jingle, you might recognise as the hit single by Rag’n’Bone Man. But not one you expect to come blaring from a rally car, primed and less than 30-seconds from the start.

Inside are two people best described as ‘characters’. John Stone is the driver, a regular threat for rally wins on single-venue rallies all over the country. And in the co-driver’s seat is his son, Alex. He’s got Down’s syndrome, and is merely minutes away from becoming the Three Sisters Challenge co-drivers’ champion.

It’s an epic story. Partnering John for the three events in the championship based at the Three Sisters Circuit in Wigan, the pair won all three outings in their Ford Fiesta S2500 Millington. Now, if only the crew’s singing sounded as good as the Fiesta…

“He loves the old musical stuff,” says John. “He can’t sing for peanuts, but he’ll sing along to everything. Oliver Twist, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, he loves the old show tunes. We’ve got him big into Norman Wisdom recently. He’s funny and he’s great company.”