John Colum Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute (born 26 April 1958 – died 22 March 2021), styled Earl of Dumfries before 1993, is a Scottish peer and a former racing driver, most notably winning the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. He does not use his title and prefers to be known solely as John Bute, although he has also been called Johnny Dumfries.
The family home is Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute. He attended Ampleforth College, as had his father and most male members of the Crichton-Stuart family, but did not finish the normal five years of study. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Lathamq
Johnny Dumfries was at Ampleforth College but left, eventually being a van driver for Williams and then a mechanic for the BS Fabrications McLaren team. While working as a garage mechanic he began competing in karting, but unfortunately broke his ankles in an accident.
In 1981 he moved into Formula Ford then in 1983 he acquired a Ralt RT3 and, at Silverstone’s European championship F3 race, he fought for second place and caught people’s attention. Martin Brundle and Ayrton Senna Brundle dominated the race but Johnny broke the lap record though was forced to retire due to engine problems.
He was the sensation of the 1984 F3 season, scoring 14 race victories and dominated the British Championship for Team BP (Dave Price Racing).
He also raced in the European F3 Championship and despite missing some races was a close runner-up in it plus there was also an offer to join the Tyrrell F1 team after Martin Brundle broke his legs in Dallas. He didn’t race for them but did do some F1 testing, in a Lotus Renault at Donington Park plus a William-Cosworth at Donington. His prize for being the British F3 champion was a test in a McLaren-Porsche at Silverstone and late in the year he tested a Brabham BMW at Kyalami.
1985 saw him in the FIA International F3000 Championship, racing first for Onyx Race Engineering before changing to Lola Motorsport, with sixth-place in Vallelunga his best result.
By this time he had also had two drives in the World Endurance Championship, in a Rothmans Porsche 956 although this was for filming purposes. Rothmans were considering running him in an F3000 March plus he would also have a Brabham F1 testing contract.
However, then came an offer to test for Ferrari at Fiorano and he signed as test driver for them but this meant he would have to fund his own F3000 programme. Ferrari wanted to develop their four-cylinder engine, but the project was halted, and after a couple of months he didn’t do any more testing.
In 1986 he joined JPS Team Lotus, racing in 15 Grands Prix for them and scored 3 championship points. Unfortunately he was replaced for the following season by Satoru Nakajima as part of the team’s deal to use Honda engines.
He almost stayed in F1, with Tyrrell, but although it didn’t happen there were several offers in 1987 to race in sportscars. The year would see him a C2 Ecosse at Silverstone, then star in a Sauber-Mercedes in qualifying for Le Mans and finished second in the Brands Hatch 1000km, sharing a Britten Lloyd Racing Porsche 962 with Mauro Baldi. He also co-drove with Raul Boesel and Martin Brundle and took victory at Spa.
There was also IMSA racing in America, driving a Dyson Racing Porsche 962 at Elkhart Lake. In a wet race he and Oscar Larrauri fought, in his own words ‘like a couple of maniacs’ and Johnny was the victor.
1988 saw his memorable win at Le Mans for the Silk Cut Jaguar Team (with Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace) and it was Jaguar’s first victory in the race since 1957.
Following this, he raced for Tom’s Toyota in 1989 and 1990 and did F1 testing for Benetton. There was also another drive in 1991 at Le Mans, in a Courage Competition Cougar C26S/Porsche but Johnny then retired from racing.
He would later establish a motorsport event at Mount Stuart in 2002 and 2003, which was a success, but in the second year the crowd was so large that the island’s infrastructure was at breaking point.
Johnny Dumfries – Painter-cum-racer – from 
