Steve and Stuart ready to tackle Tour / Tour Britannia 2013

The Tour Britannia has become a firm favourite for Stuart Scott and Steve Wood since Stuart purchased the ex-Richard Lloyd Chevrolet Camaro from Alan Rivers in 2008, with each outing in the event seeing a better result than the previous one for the FIA and British GT duo:

Year: Class/Overall
2009: 5th/23rd
2010: 1st/6th
2011: 1st/5th
2012: 1st/3rd

Continuing that trend is certainly going to be a challenge, but there is an extra incentive this year for Stuart and Steve as this year’s event, which begins on Friday, marks the 40th anniversary of James Hunt’s Tour of Britain victory in the Camaro that Stuart’s vehicle is a replica of. “My dad used to take me along to watch Richard Lloyd racing in the Camaro when I was a boy, so to get to work with him later in life was a dream come true,” said Stuart.

“Richard should have been co-driving with Robert Fearnall back in 1973 on the Tour of Britain, but had to give his seat to James Hunt after being injured in a road accident. He then raced the replica car with Alan Rivers in the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Tour Britannia. After Richard’s death in 2008 I had the opportunity to buy the car and entered it in the 2009 Tour as a tribute to him; but we enjoyed the car and the event so much that we decided to come back again and again.

“It would be wonderful if we could somehow repeat James’ victory from 40 years ago; we’ll certainly be giving it our best shot.”

The route for this year’s event is very much Midlands-based, with Rally HQ in Warwick and the usual mixture of stages and races being held at venues such as Mallory Park, Silverstone and Stoneleigh Park.

There is to be no repeat of the Prologue stages that were run last year, with the Thursday being given over to Scrutineering and documentation, before the cars head out for two days of action on Friday and Saturday.

The full route can be found here

28 cars appear on the entry list for the Competition category, including 2012 winners Phil Hindley and Andy Bull in their Porsche 911 SC.

Other familiar names are Rick Pearson, Sarah Bennett-Baggs, Philip Walker and one Mike Jordan, who is a later replacement in Walker’s Jaguar after Howard Redhouse had to drop out. This is the same Mike Jordan who has raced with Stuart and Steve down the years and who looks after and prepares the Camaro, as well as Stuart’s Mustang and Jaguar XKR GT cars. “It’s going to be fun racing against the boss!” said Stuart.

The entry (Competition category)

26 Phil Hindley/Andy Bull Porsche 911 SC
27 Jeremy Bailey/Brandon James Ford Escort RS (1980)
28 Mike Smith/Pete Thomas Ford Escort Mk1 (1974)
29 Philip Walker/Mike Jordan Jaguar E-Type Coupe (1963)
30 Stuart Scott/Steven Wood/Andrew Jordan Chevrolet Camaro Z28 (1970)
31 Stephen Rogers/Philip Pearce Lotus Elan (1966)
32 Tim Bryan/Jim Bryan MGB GT V8 (1974)
33 Andrew McAlpine/Neville Alderson Ferrari 308 GT4 (1977)
34 Johan Denekamp/Ian Benjamin Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV (1969)
35 Brynn Lewis/TBA Alpine A110 (1971)
36 Simon Tate/Stuart Lawson Alfa Romeo GTA (1965)
37 Rick Pearson/Keith Gapp Porsche 924 Turbo
38 Richard Plant/Leigh Sebba Morgan Plus 8 (1973)
39 Sharlie Goddard/Suzy Harvey Morgan V8 1981
40 Francis Stafiopilatis/Bernie Chodosh Ford Falcon (1965)
41 Marios Stafilopatis/Georgios Chatzirgas Porsche 930 (1979)
42 Chris Wilson/Donald Duncan Vauxhall Chevette HSR (1979)
43 Anthony Robinson/Mark Witherspoon Porsche 911 (1970)
44 Conrad Bos/Mark Ellis Lotus Elan (1965)
45 John Spiers/Susanne Niedrum TVR Griffith (1965)
46 Joel Wykeham/David Brown BMW 2002 Ti (1971)
47 Neil Hadfield/Mark Humphries Alfa Romeo GTA (1965)
48 Adrian Kermode/Sarah Bennett-Baggs Porsche 911 SC (1980)
49 John Sheldon/Richard Kirby Ford Escort Mk1 (1975)
50 Peter Haynes/Alex Classic Alfa Romeo Guilia GT (1965)
51 John Hampston/Douglas Hampston Triumph TR4 (1964)
52 Philip Dolby/Mick Worrall Ford Escort RS (1980)
53 Till Bechtolscheimer/Joe Patterson Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint GT