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Press Release: Friday 1st January, 2010
PALLETFORCE has become the driving force behind one of Britain’s most talented young rally drivers.  The network has gone ‘full throttle’ in its support of Scottish rally ace John MacCrone after announcing itself as the 20-year-old’s main sponsor for the 2010 season – as John aims to continue his rise to stardom. Described as “one of the hottest talents in years” John’s pedigree as a rally car driver was underlined earlier this year when he was awarded a coveted place at the Motor Sports Association British Rally Academy. Aimed at finding the next world champion, John has shone since joining the academy. Dave Holland, sales and marketing director at Palletforce, said: “John is on the road to great things, as is Palletforce, and we want to be a part of his bright future in motor sports. The coming years are going to be exciting for both John and Palletforce so it is a perfect partnership. “John’s talent has been evident from a young age and we are confident that, with the backing and support of Palletforce, he can become one of the sport's leading lights.” Hailing from the small and isolated Isle of Mull, off the west coast of Scotland, John developed a burning passion for rally driving after years of growing up watching the island's iconic Tour of Mull. Known as ‘the best rally in the world’, exhilarating scenes of mud-splattered, tyre squealing cars rallying through his village are among John’s earliest memories – and have held him captive ever since. In 2004 the Bear Cubs rally team was formed to involve the village’s youngsters. Most of them were too young to compete or simply could not afford to take part. Their ambition was to build their own car to compete in the 2005 Tour of Mull. Then John was just 15, and he spent every spare moment in the garage. The Cubs wrote to anyone they could think of and had soon collected enough sponsorship money, spare parts and helping hands to make their dream of building a rally car reality. Over the next year the car was built from scratch from a written off Vauxhall Corsa. The Cubs entered the 2005 Tour of Mull with John’s cousin Heather as driver and John as navigator. They finished the trophy section and won the Spirit of the Rally award. For John there was no looking back, the following year John and Heather rallied again and finished third in class in the Mull Forest Stages and won the Richie Pearl Spirit of the Rally award in the North West stages. In 2007, aged 18, John got his first drive and won Best Entertainer award on the Mull Forest stages. In 2008 John left The Cubs and entered the Tour in his own right. He finished 13th overall in a 1600cc Peugeot 205 picking up Best Entertainer and Best Mull Crew along the way – but more importantly he was spotted by the Motor Sports Association. As part of the Academy’s training programme, John now receives advice and training on a wide range of subjects from physical fitness and nutrition to dealing with the media and sports psychology. With Palletforce’s backing the emerging talent will now be able to take his career to the next level and compete in the exciting Fiesta SportTrophy.
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