How Black enjoyed a golden year to be club racing’s king

You can understand why Stewart Black describes his 2024 season as one of mixed fortunes. Yes, he impressively clinched a fourth consecutive Scottish Legends title, but there were plenty of bumps in the road to championship glory, including a few engine woes and ending the first day of the September Knockhill meeting upside down at the hairpin with a damaged car after rolling. But Black and his small team of family and friends overcame those challenges to extend his title streak and also finish the year at the top of the Ryan Motorsport Insurance Autosport National Driver Rankings thanks to taking 17 race victories during the season.

“The car was wrecked,” reports Black of the crash that threatened to derail his campaign, and was caused by a slight brush of wheels with Gary Atkinson’s machine. “Fortunately, I got cleared medically. The team and I worked until one o’clock in the morning to get the car as straight as we could. I went out Sunday morning and made a few adjustments after practice and won the first race from quite far back. It put me back in the championship fight.

“The determination from us to just get the car back on the track as good as possible shows what we’re like as a team. It’s just myself, two friends and my family – it’s not a paid team. It’s people who turn up, enjoy the racing, enjoy a barbecue and enjoy a few beers.”

Enjoyment is a key word for Black and his family. He believes it is important to remember that club motorsport should be fun and is keen to reinforce that message. Having always watched the sport on television, his route into competing came via a Christmas present. “I did a Legends experience up at Knockhill and that’s when you can go and drive a Legends car,” Black recalls. “It was a lot of fun, and then a car came up for sale, so we decided to have a look and ended up driving home with the car!

“That was in 2008 and I raced for half a season, but then the credit crunch happened and I’m in the construction industry and all construction stopped overnight. So I ended up selling the car and I took some time out. It was about 2014, once my son was born, I decided to come back for a few half-seasons. Then the first full season was 2021 and I won the championship.”

And he has not looked back from there, continuing to rack up the wins and championships. But, for Black, the success is just a bonus – having a good battle on track is what he is most interested in. “I want to go and enjoy racing – I don’t do it to think about championships,” he states. “As the season rolls on, I start thinking, ‘Maybe I need to watch what I do here because I’ve got a How Black enjoyed a golden year to be club racing’s king chance.’ I love being at race weekends and being with family and friends and the different people you meet from different walks of life.”

Despite having to squeeze his 6ft 4in frame into the small car, the 43-year-old describes Scottish Legends as the perfect category for him since its schedule works out at one event per month between April and October, and enables him to balance his racing with running his business and spending time with his young family. “It just fits in with my lifestyle,” he adds. “The cars are really good to drive and really hard to drive. They’re hard to set up and hard to get right, but great fun. Make one mistake and the people in front have gone – you need to be sharp and consistent.”

Black also relishes Legends’ unique race format. Instead of starting order being determined by qualifying position, a random grid draw takes place for the first heat, with these positions then reversed for the second contest. Points scored across those two races are tallied and the scorers are reversed for the finale, and that means plenty of close scraps during the quickfire contests.

“I think the grids are going to be the biggest we’ve ever seen. It’s going to make my job even harder, but I’m looking forward to the challenge!” Stewart Black

“If you’re one of the leading drivers, you’re constantly having to come through from the back, so it makes it exciting and good to watch,” Black enthuses. “It’s only an eight or 10-lap race, so you need to come through the grid fast but, putting a championship together, you need to be respectful for other people.”

Grids now regularly feature over 20 cars, but the series was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and barely a handful of drivers took part. Faced with such a decline, Black was one of the people who attempted to help restore its flagging fortunes. “Since 2020, my aim was to work with people to drum up interest,” he explains. “At the start of 2021, we had 20-odd cars and it’s great that seemed to work. I wanted Scottish Legends to be successful because then I had a great championship to race in.”

Black did not have things all his own way in the latest campaign, with several other drivers, including Daniel Clark and Matthew Pape, also victorious. Alongside both configurations of the Knockhill circuit, the championship has increasingly introduced away rounds in recent years and Black was pleased to enjoy success on his first visit to Croft, which he describes as another of his 2024 highlights, along with the manner in which he responded to that September crash.

First title came in 2021 and Black has retained the crown ever since

Photo by: Jim Moir

Now Black is not only facing enhanced competition from a growing grid – the introduction of a new three-cylinder watercooled Yamaha engine has provided another threat to his reign. Black opted to stick with the existing four-cylinder motor because he and his family team are familiar with its operation. “For me, any win that was against the watercooled cars was a massive achievement because I think they do have an advantage,” he reckons. “I was up against it from the beginning, but I just ground it out.”

Black therefore admits it was a shock to hear he was heading the Autosport Driver Rankings at points during June and July. “One of the guys that came up to help said to me, ‘Have you seen you’re leading the rankings?’ and I just laughed at him!” recalls Black, who then started following the updates online and was surprised when he ended the year in first place, after finishing 13th in 2023. “I had a successful season but we had DNFs with engines breaking. I got hit a couple of times and didn’t really expect it [to top the rankings]. I should have probably had another three, four, five wins.”

That may sound ominous both for his Scottish Legends rivals and those seeking to usurp him as the driver at the top of the Ryan Motorsport Insurance-backed winners’ table, but Black is expecting to face even greater competition in 2025. “We’re looking like we could have full grids this year of 30-plus,” he states. “The interest the championship’s had has been tremendous. Everyone always talks over the winter that they’re going to join, but there’s been quite a lot of people purchasing cars – new or second-hand. I think the grids are going to be the biggest we’ve ever seen. It’s going to make my job even harder, but I’m looking forward to the challenge!”

To contend with that threat, Black has spent most weekends since the Legends season concluded in October tinkering with his car, and stripped it down over the winter. As for his ambitions for the future, Black has no overwhelming desire to race elsewhere. He has considered stepping up to the National Legends series, but the increased travelling, expense and time away from home would not be possible for him.

Instead, Black is grateful to be competing at all. “I never thought I would be doing what I’m doing now,” he confesses. “I’m happy, over the moon, doing what I’m doing. As long as Scottish Legends stays strong, I’m happy doing that. I would never turn down the chance to race something else if it became possible, but I can’t really see myself running anything else.”

And, given the success he has already achieved, Black’s name could again be one to watch in the battle to head this year’s rankings.

Growing Scottish Legends grid is set to provide an even greater challenge for Black this year

Photo by: Jim Moir

Final 2024 Ryan Motorsport Insurance Autosport National Rankings

All car races in UK and Ireland are included except qualification/repechage, consolation and handicap races. No races in other countries.

Class wins are only counted when there are at least six starters in the class, except: when the race is part of a multi-stage event where six or more have taken part in earlier heats that feed into a semi-final or final; when multiple championships are merged in the same race, the ‘overall’ winner from the slower championship can count a class win as long as that championship has at least 10 starters across all classes. Only classes divided by car characteristics are included, not those divided by driver characteristics such as ability, professional status, age, experience (for example rookie or Pro-Am classes). Each race counts only once, so an overall winner’s class win is not added.

Where there is a tie, overall wins take precedence. Where there is still a tie, average grid size for a driver’s wins determines the order.