JOHN Stone has moved up to third place in the National Asphalt Rally Championship after a storming drive on the Isle of Man.

The Blackburn businessman finished fifth in class and 17th overall in his Legend Fires-backed Metro 6R4.

"It was one of those events where everything clicked, " said John, who was co-driven by Lee Carter.

"The stages were brilliant, the car set-up was fantastic and Lee's pacenotes worked perfectly.

"We finished 33rd on the same event last year - and our times last weekend were up to 30 seconds a stage quicker.

"We did have an early problem on the second stage when the rear centre differential broke, which meant the car was flicking between two and four-wheel-drive.

"But Paul Megretton and the service crew did a great job, working until 3am to replace the diff for the Saturday stages."

A string of top ten times on the second day moved the pair up the leaderboard, their stage times consistently beating rivals John Bogie, in a similar 6R4, and Bury's Steve Simpson, in an ex-works Hyundai Accent WRC.

"We've now finished three events from three starts and now have 51 points on the board, compared with 21 points last year." he added.

Championship table:1: Tony Davies (Subaru Impreza WRC) 70 points; 2: John Bogie (MG Metro 6R4) 62pts; 3 John Stone (MG Metro 6R4) 52pts