The news about John came as a shock as it was only 5 weeks after he had been diagnosed with cancer, indeed only 6 weeks after his last competitive event in his MX5. He was itching to get better as he’d got several entries in for events through the summer, sadly it was not to be.
From his teens John was involved in motor sport, his father Edgar was a serious competitor including at Le Mans. John rallied a variety of cars in the early 60’s and his Liege rally with Mike Wood was always a great story, John is the only driver of a Mini to actually finish a Liege, he was very proud of that. Throughout the years spent as a family man John harboured a desire to return to motor sport, so with lifelong friend and fellow Lancastrian John Waddington when both were already in their 70’s, they successfully shared a KA in BTRDA and British Car Trials.
At the same time John was competing with his 2 MX5’s in Sprints, Hillclimbs and AutoSolos, often doing 2 events in a weekend from his homebase at Harrogate. In 2017, aged 80, John competed on 51 events, he was Class 1 MSA British Car Trials Champion, and was 3rd overall in the prestigious BTRDA Allrounders Championship.
An amazing life for such a wonderful character, his friendship, enthusiasm and stories will be missed by so many, it was a privilege for all of us to have known him.
NP
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