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Q&A with Stuart Loudon

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Q&A with Stuart Loudon

Stuart Loudon is a man of many talents. He is one of the UK’s top co-drivers, with 21 FIA World Rally Championship starts under his belt – having co-driven for the likes of Matthew Wilson, Gus Greensmith, John MacCrone and Robert Barrable. He’s also a fully qualified Rolls-Royce Aeronautical Engineer and, as the great, great grandson of Mr. Thomas Tunnock, he also knows how to make a darn good teacake and caramel wafer!

By rights, Stuart should have a full time seat alongside a top driver in the WRC, but with so few opportunities at the sharp end of the sport, being a professional co-driver is a precarious and vulnerable occupation. Nevertheless, Stuart is in high demand, and he never knows where the next ‘phone call will take him. And he certainly wasn’t expecting it to be Kenya, which is where he has been rallying of late.

Stuart took a call last year asking if he’d be interested in contesting an event with Kenyan Rally Championship frontrunner Onkar Rai in a Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. The answer was of course yes. The first rally they’d planned to do together was cancelled because of heavy rain, before they finished third overall (and first in class) on the Eldoret Rally. The plan this year is to contest the full Kenyan Rally Championship, and they started well by finishing third overall on the Guru Nanak Rally.

“There isn’t many places in the world where you can be doing 100mph down a rally stage and have to swerve to avoid a giraffe,” says Stuart.

Stuart also guided Desi Henry on this year’s Galway International Rally. They were in a close fight for second place when their Hyundai i20 R5 broke its suspension.

While Stuart waits for both the Kenyan and Irish Tarmac Rally Championships to restart (alas, he hasn’t got his feet up at home, as he’s busy maintaining the Tunnock’s ovens during the enforced lockdown) we thought we’d ask him about this Stilo helmet. This is what he had to say:

What crash helmet do you wear and what makes it your number one choice? “My first helmet for international rallying was a Stilo WRC DES Composite in 2010. I then upgraded in 2013 to the WRC DES Carbon. My latest helmet is the top spec WRC DES Zero 8860. I went with Stilo initially because of their robust design and great quality intercom. The reason behind the purchase of my latest helmet was down to safety and weight. Also this is the current spec required for WRC rallies in a WRC car.”

What is the story behind the design and colour scheme of your helmet? “My first and second helmets were milk and then dark chocolate Tunnock’s Teacake designs. The shape of the helmet lends itself to these designs and it helped promote my family’s business. The latest helmet is designed in two parts. The main body of the helmet is painted to look like a Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer wrapper, but the top is painted like a pacenote book. During the time the helmet was being painted I wrote the first page of my notes from the Ouninpohja stage in Finland from 2013. This is one of my favourite stages in the world and I have been lucky enough to compete on it several times.”

What have been the most significant helmet changes during your career? “I think probably changing to my current helmet, the Zero 8860. It is so lightweight you hardly feel as though you have a helmet on. Also from a safety aspect it is incredibly strong.”

What incident springs to mind, where you were thankful you were wearing a good quality helmet? “I had a pretty bad accident in Corsica in 2016. Long story short the car hit a rock-face, rolled down the road, then off the side of the road and down about 50 feet into the trees… where it then proceeded to catch fire! Thankfully no life threatening injuries, but I was glad I was wearing a good quality helmet.”

What advice would you give someone starting out in motorsport, as regards helmet and safety equipment in general? “My advice would be pretty simple… never compromise when it comes to safety equipment. You don’t need to go for the highest spec straight away, but going for a brand like Stilo that is tried and tested is very important.”

Stuart Loudon, Tunnocks Teacakes, Kenyan Rally Championship, WRC, Onkar Rai, Volkswagen Polo GTI R5, Safari Rally, motorsport, motor sport, Scotland, Stilo