Stuart Loudon was drafted in alongside Gus Greensmith in Sardinia 2021, but knew his career could never go further
Photography by M-Sport, Girardo & Co. Archive, Toyota
Words by Luke Barry
It’s a question I sometimes use in case it draws a left-field or emotional response. But in this case, the answer was only ever going to be this:
“My one and only experience of being a works World Rally Championship co-driver in a World Rally Car.”
Of course that’s what Stuart Loudon first thinks of when Sardinia 2021 is mentioned to him.
To the disbelief of both of us, 2021 was four years ago – a suitable amount of time ago to reflect on the realities of being parachuted into an M-Sport Ford alongside Gus Greensmith for a full-blown World Rally Championship event.
Parachuted is perhaps the wrong term to use, because it’s not as if Loudon and Greensmith were unfamiliar with one another.
“We did Rally Germany together in 2018 in an R5,” Loudon reminds DirtFish, “and obviously I was his gravel crew anyway, so I knew his notes and knew the note system.
A one-off blast with Greensmith at Rally Germany in 2018 was a precursor to an unexpected top-flight debut a few years later
“And we are really good mates, so it worked really well. There was absolutely no stress whatsoever.”
However, knowing someone and already working with them is one thing. Stepping in to do a job as big as what Loudon did is most certainly another.
With Chris Patterson unable to compete in the rally, Loudon was an obvious candidate to step in – not just because of his connections to Greensmith, but throughout the year he’d been sitting with Matthew Wilson as testing of the Ford Puma Rally1 began.
“I literally went from a week’s testing in Fontjoncouse straight to Sardinia,” Loudon recalls. “It all happened quite suddenly because I remember when I was in Fontjoncouse having to do quite a lot of preparation work when we were not testing the car.”
As if the challenge of jumping into a pukka WRC seat for a one-off wasn’t daunting enough, being up against it planning wise only made the task harder.
Loudon had never explicitly targeted making it to the very top, but it was clear he was capable of belonging there.
“When I started rallying, I never had any ambitions to get up to the top level of the world championship. I just progressed into British championship, then JWRC, then WRC2, and then before you know it, you’re sitting in the start line in a World Rally car in Sardinia,” he reflects.
By the time the call came from Greensmith, Loudon already had plenty of WRC experience in the support categories – primarily alongside Robert Barrable
“And probably even in my early days of WRC2 back in 2013 with Robert Barrable, I never really thought, ‘ah yeah, I’d love to go and do this as a works co-driver’. I never really thought that would happen.
“It’s probably only been in the last five years when I was really in touch with the top level of the sport that I thought, ‘you know what, I can do this. Definitely I can do this’.”
The call to sit with Greensmith was the ultimate realization of Loudon’s potential – even if all parties knew all it could ever be was a one-off.
But as he readied himself for the challenge, who better to text for tips than the soon-to-be eight-time world champion Julien Ingrassia?
Loudon smiles: “Before the event, I’d messaged him and asked if he had any advice and stuff. And he said ‘It’s alright Stu, don’t worry, you’re only half a second away from making a mistake on every single corner with the pace notes…’
“‘Oh that’s great, cheers. Thanks for that!'”
Loudon needn’t have worried. M-Sport was “like being at home” for the Scot, and co-driving was something he’d done for nearly 15 years. The only difference is the stakes were higher – something which, these years later, Loudon is happy to admit briefly got to him.
“The first loop on Friday morning was probably some of the worst pacenotes that I’ve ever read,” he says. “Because, and I don’t mind admitting it, I put myself under a huge amount of pressure to get things right, and I get quite nervous with myself and overthink things. And that first loop of stages on the Friday was a disaster.
“At lunchtime service, I had a good chat with Malcolm [Wilson]. I was beating myself up and he’s kind of going: ‘look, don’t worry about it, these things happen. You just need to calm down and everybody knows you can do it, just go and do it, it’s as simple as that.’
“So again, I don’t mind admitting it, I gave myself a kick up the arse at service and went back out in the afternoon and the notes worked a lot better.”
The Tempio Pausania (SS5/7 that weekend) was a real challenge from the co-driver’s seat, but Loudon was locked in for the second pass.
“It was just relentless, but on the second loop the notes flowed, for me, a lot better,” Loudon explains, teeing up an amusing tale.
A nervy start to his first time in WRC machinery was quickly improved upon
“And about halfway through the stage, Gus said to me, ‘you’re doing really well, just keep going’. And I wanted to turn around to him and say, ‘shut the f*** up!’ because it was all flowing so well!” Loudon laughs.
“So yeah, that would be probably one of the funniest points that weekend.”
The rally itself delivered Loudon a bit of everything; the highs of just being there, but the lows of when rallies don’t go to plan.
“On the last stage of Friday afternoon, the propshaft went. And then Saturday morning we had a water pump failure. I think it was midway through Saturday morning. And then Sunday, we did have a clean run but we had to change an ECU in the car as well, in between stages. So the event definitely had everything for us.”
Loudon however executed the job perfectly, and the whole experience undoubtedly “made me a better co-driver”. But the nature of the call meant despite the obvious opportunity to impress, it wasn’t an audition. The seat wasn’t going to be his for the next event.
“I came back from that rally and was home on the Sunday night. And then I was back in the factory making caramel wafers on Monday morning. So talk about getting back to reality! But that’s been my life for the last 15 years with rallying.”
There was an opportunity presented to Loudon after his WRC chance that would have allowed him to become a permanent fixture in the world championship, but sadly – despite his deep-down desire – his head had to rule his heart.
Loudon had done enough in his cameos alongside Greensmith and testing with Wilson to garner interest from drivers for a full-time navigator's ride
Loudon’s role as maintenance and transport manager for the family business, Tunnock’s, had to come first.
He explains: “There was an opportunity to go and do it full time, but due to my obvious family connections, I made the decision not to do it – which was extremely difficult, but it was also the correct thing to do as far as I was concerned.
“It definitely wasn’t an easy decision, and there’s still points where I regret that, but I had to look at the bigger picture and see what was the most important thing that I had to do.
“And I’m still very fortunate that I’m one of a handful of guys in this era from the UK that have competed at that level. So I’m immensely proud of that.”
And today, Loudon’s enjoying his rallying more than ever alongside Kris Meeke in the Portuguese championship.
“Kris and I just clicked,” he says. “I’ve known him again for a long time, but we just clicked from the first rally last year. That was only meant to be a short-term thing, me filling in for James [Fulton], and then it’s obviously become a longer term thing which is great.
Loudon is currently leading the Portuguese championship alongside Meeke
“It’s good because I’m still learning from him because he’s got a huge amount more experience than me, but the great thing is that the two of us have been there, we’ve done it, we’ve got the T-shirt and when we’re in the car it’s 100% serious heads on, but when we’re out of the car you can still relax, have a beer, have a bit of craic and a bit of a carry on.
“I think that’s why, not just me, I think that’s why we’re both enjoying it so much.”
So despite his clear appreciation to have competed at the very highest level of the sport, the ambition isn’t to return there.
“I think now, realistically, I’m happy where I am,” Loudon confirms. “I just need to look at my bigger picture in life and the fact that I can still compete with Kris in Portugal, competitively at a high level, and still work in the family business. I’ve got the best of both worlds, basically.”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Gus Greensmith, Rally Italy, Rally Italy 2021, Stuart Loudon, WRC 2021
Publish Date June 3, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/06/wFlTw5f8-DSC8107-780x520.jpg June 3, 2025
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