James Robert Stewart (6 March 1931 – 3 January 2008) was a British racing driver from Scotland.
He participated in a single Formula One World Championship Grand Prix, driving for Ecurie Ecosse. He was born in Milton, West Dunbartonshire. He also competed in several non-Championship Formula One races. He was the elder brother of Jackie Stewart.
Stewart later worked in the garage industry and worked closely with anti-alcohol projects in Scotland. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
James Robert Stewart was born in Milton, outside Dumbarton, Scotland, on March 6 1931 and later worked in his father Bob’s Jaguar dealership and garage (where brother Jackie would eventually work as a mechanic). He was allowed to drive the new Jaguars delivered to the garage along the winding roads alongside Loch Lomond although they were so well ‘run in” before being delivered to their owners that they usually needed an oil change.
He started racing in 1950 by entering hillclimbs at Bo’ness and Rest and be Thankful with an MG TC though moved on to an Healey Silverstone for 1951 and 1952. He won his class at Bo’ness and was third at Rest and be Thankful in the first year then in the next had a class win at Bo’ness and second in class at Rest and be Thankful plus podium finishes at Crimond, Turnberry and Charterhall. During this period he was doing his National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) though as luck would have it his commanding officer was an avid motor racing fan and Jimmy found himself allowed to race at weekends.
His performances in the Healey attracted the attention of David Murray and during a later conversation, hinted to Bob Stewart that his son might be recruited to Ecurie Ecosse if he was willing to buy one of the new customer C-type Jaguars for the 1953 season. He became an integral part of Ecurie Ecosse, racing their Jaguar C-Type to three wins at Thruxton and six podiums at Charterhall, Ibsley, Thruxton and Snetterton. Added to this were two fourth place finishes at Snetterton (one being the Lyons Trophy) and sixth place finishes at Ibsley, in Oulton Park’s British Empire Trophy and in a support race at the British GP. There were a number of shared drives and he had a sixth place (and second in PS class) with Jock Lawrence in the Nurburgring 1000km and fourth in the Goodwood 9 Hours with Bob Dickson. Being part of the team gave him his Grand Prix debut, where he qualified a Cooper T20 fifteenth for the British race at Silverstone but he spun off the wet track while running sixth on lap 79 of the 90 laps. When critics claimed that he was too fast for his own good, he declared that he was too fast for the car. Despite retirements with the Cooper at Snetterton’s Coronation Trophy and The Newcastle Journal Trophy at Charterhall he won the Goodwood Easter Handicap and took third in a Winfield F2 race at Charterhall. There was also a further outing with the Connaught and he tied for victory with Rodney Nuckey at Snetterton.
1954 started with retirement in a shared Ecosse drive with Ian Stewart in the Buenos Aires 1000km but once back home he went on to enjoy success with the C-Type. There was a podium in April at Castle Combe and in the following week he was sixth again in the British Empire Trophy at Oulton Park and then took three wins on the run at Goodwood plus one at Ibsley. During this period he was second with the Connaught at Castle Combe and back in his Jaguar took podiums at Ibsley and Aintree, fourth at the Silverstone International and another victory in June at Goodwood. However soon afterwards in June his racing was halted after an accident in an Aston Martin DB3S at Le Mans, while teamed with Graham Whitehead. He and Pierre Meyrat’s Talbot collided as they were both lapping a slower car in the fast section coming up to Maison Blanche. Pierre Meyrat ended in the hedgerows but the Aston Martin rolled, throwing Jimmy clear, resulting in the car being completely written off. He recalled sliding along the grass verge and watching the car somersault down the road ahead of him but he sustained a badly broken arm which put him out of racing for the rest of the season.
In May the following season he started with a second place in a Touring car race at Silverstone’s International Trophy meeting with a Jaguar MkV11 (behind Mike Hawthorn’s similar car). After his performance chasing Mike Hawthorn to the flag, Lofty England asked him to share a D-type at Le Mans, stating “because I believe the pair of you can match the speed of Fangio and Moss in the Mercedes”. This should have seen Jimmy sharing Hawthorn’s victory there in June but a month before this he crashed while racing the Ecosse D-Type at the Nurburgring. After going backwards through a hedge he ended upside down in a ditch with the wrecked car braced on top of him. He was trapped for 10 minutes before Stirling Moss fortunately noticed some odd tyre marks and after stopping his car, looked over the hedge and spotted Jimmy. His arm was badly broken and he was told by a doctor that if he broke it again he might lose it. Advised not to race at Le Mans, the injury and crash convinced him to retire and he became involved in running the family’s Jaguar dealership.
A few years later he took part in a test session at Oulton Park with younger brother Jackie, and racing an Aston DB4GT took a couple of seconds off Jimmy and showed that he had potential. Their mother had suffered with worries during Jimmy’s races and threatened to kick Jackie out of the house if he took up racing like his brother and their father, who had been a competitive motorcycle rider. Although not wishing to upset their mother he was responsible for helping Jackie with his first break. When Ken Tyrrell was looking for a driver for his F3 team, Jackie was recommended to him so he contacted Jimmy to ask if his brother was serious about racing. “Serious?. Try stopping him” Jimmy replied and in his first test laps Jackie went on to outpace established driver Bruce McLaren.
He had a spell selling cars at other dealerships and for a time moved to America. He set up home near Dumbarton in Scotland, overcoming personal problems in his life, and took pride in brother Jackie’s racing success.
Jimmy passed away on the 3rd of January, 2008 and on March the 3rd, a Memorial Thanksgiving Service was arranged for him by Jackie in Glasgow Cathedral. Jimmy had been a successful boy soprano and the string section of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra played, along with the pipe band of the Royal Highland Fusiliers. One of the C-type Jaguars and the Cooper Bristol Jimmy he raced were parked outside the Cathedral and many drivers, team members and friends attended the service, with a moving address given by Ian Stewart. Jackie himself was immensely proud of the elder brother who had nurtured his own interest in the sport. He said of him in his autobiography, “I owe him almost everything because when I was a youngster struggling at school (with dyslexia), the world seemed an extremely dark place. I found my real salvation in motor racing, and I found it because, in my difficult time of need and confusion, it was my elder brother who carried the torch and selflessly showed me the way. It was almost as if Jim was beckoning me to join him on a magic carpet ride, carrying me out of the wilderness at school into the exciting, glamorous, colourful world of motor racing.”
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