THE Legend Fires North West Stages will be best remembered for three things: The weather, the winning margin and John Stone!

Firstly, it was the wettest in the event’s 14-year history.

Secondly, it was the closest ever finish with just a single second separating the top two cars.

And thirdly, Blackburn’s John Stone won his class, not in a world rally car, but in a Nissan Micra.

Gale force winds and a high tide battered Blackpool hours before the start, throwing Friday’s pair of Promenade stages into doubt as stage set-up crews were given a near impossible mission.

Fortunately calm followed the storm and the stages ran as scheduled, but torrential rain throughout Saturday made driving conditions treacherous with standing water at every venue.

There’s a saying in rallying that ‘every second counts’ and if ever proof were needed, the final outcome of this year’s rally gave it.

After 76 miles, over 24 timed to the second special stages, it was the Subaru Imprea WRC of Kevin Procter and Dave Bellerby that proved the quickest.

The Northallerton-based rallycross aces beat the Nissan Sunny GTi-R of Tony Bardy and Reg Smith by a single second.

Radcliffe’s Stephen Simpson, a five-times winner of the event, and co-driver Simon Hunter were happy to settle for third place in their Hyundai Accent WRC.

At the finish, a relieved Simpson said: “What a tough rally, there was the sea coming over the wall on the Promenade, we had three spins in Weeton and a puncture at Clifton.”

Stone, who’s company Legend Fires are the events main sponsor, and co-driver Kevin Hodkinson won Class F in a Nissan Micra hired as a last minute replacement for Stones’ Skoda Fabia WRC, which was undergoing an engine rebuild.

Stone, who finished 32nd in the overall standings, said: “We decided on a steady pace on Friday night but caught all our class rivals napping by attacking from the off at Hillhouse on Saturday.”

It was a fitting result, a much-deserved award for Stone who had elected to contest the rally in order to raise monies for charity, Broadfield School at Oswaldtwistle being one of the beneficiaries.