Flying Scotsman Leg 2 – Slaley to Dalmahoy

The 15^th Flying Scotsman threw down an Anglo-Scottish challenge right from the get-go in Slaley Hall at 08:15 this morning with the first test literally down the end their drive. Crews had to thread their mighty vintage machines through the narrow twisty tarmac of the golf course service road, all before any golfers reached the tee to shout ‘four’ for a stray ball.

Ancient met vintage and rally history all in one as crews skirted Hadrian’s Wall and into ‘Killer Kielder’ forest for tests and regularities, the scene of many World Rally Championship battles and of course fights between the Romans and the Picts and Scots centuries ago.

Otterburn Ranges with forest tests and tarmac was the last part of the Anglo challenge before a special border crossing at Carter Bar. This was the scene of one of the last large-scale battles between the English and the Scots, as Saltire flag clad officials stamped the timecards to the tune of the bagpipes and handed out Scotland’s equivalent of the ‘flower of all chocolate’, the world renowned ‘Tunnock’s Tea Cake’!

From Kelso to near Duns and more rally history, Jim Clark Rally territory with a superb regularity over the ‘Moon and the Stars,’ a famous stage on the Jim Clark, the twice World F1 Champ who was from Duns and farmed nearby. The Scottish part of the challenge continued with a test at Duns Motocross track, moors run over Lammermuir Hills and then a Time Control at Glenkinchie Distillery, the home of Jonnie Walker whisky! But Scotland was not done, there was another brilliant and remote regularity that took crews past the Glad House reservoir on the left of the track, providing a soothing sight after the rigours of the rally day.

It was another brilliant day’s rallying and by the afternoon, in bright sunshine. Even Kelso which has the record for the lowest recorded temperature in the UK between 1981 – 82 at 26.7, was swathed in the sun’s rays. Many spectators took advantage and settled on chairs and walls in villages to wave at the vintage spectacle, one large group even enjoying the sight of the old cars splashing through a ford in the late afternoon sunshine.

Through this competitive day of five tests and regularities over 179 miles, the leaders William Medcalf and Ryan Pickering in their Bentley 3 litre SuperSports Continuation pressed home their advantage extending their lead, but at the same time, experiencing a slight flutter at the end of the day at Dalmahoy.

William discovered a broken bolt in the transmission which must have given his heart a little jump, but with the help of the Sweeps, all was right again. As William brandished a big copper hammer and a large ring spanner he said with a relieved smile; “It’s all about preparation!”

Second place John Lomas and Pete Johnson survived their own scare in the forest tests of Otterburn as they ended up with two wheels of the Riley Sprite in a ditch after missing a turn, they recovered as John said; “We lost some time but got away with it, then extended our lead over Mike and Zachs by 15 seconds, but we can’t catch William!” For their part, bike racer Mike Farrall and navigator Zach Burns have been going really well in their Jaguar Standard Swallow SS90 to maintain third place, although Mike is still very sore after a big bike crash. Zach said; “We lost a bit this afternoon, we were scrappy, I think I enjoyed my lunch too much!”

Snapping at their heels in fourth, just seven seconds behind are the German crew of Gerd Bühler and Maximillian Matt in their BMW 327/28. It is a pretty car with a wonderful sounding engine, or it was, for it now has a bent valve and is firing on just five cylinders. Maximillian has done great job under the circumstances to keep them in the top five, whilst Gerd just hopes they can keep it going.

Alex Vassbotten and Tony Brooks were also off in amongst the trees in Otterburn losing a lot of time and are now 12^th. Bill Cleyndert and Georgia de Jong Cleyndert have hauled themselves back up the leaderboard in their Bentley from 8^th to fifth after brake problems. Just 13 seconds behind them are another recovering crew of Kurt Vanderspinnen and Iain Tullie in the little Lea Francis Hyper, but in turn, Patrick Debusseré and Remco Luksemburg are only 4 second adrift of sixth place by four seconds in the Dodge.

From third to eighth it is all very close going into the final day. William and Ryan cannot afford to make a slip or endure any technical mishap, as it is theirs to lose although Lomas and Johnson will do their best to pile on the pressure. It should be quite a final fling for the 15^th Flying Scotsman before the finish at Gleneagles.

William Medcalf and Ryan Pickering, Bentley 3 Litre SuperSports Continuation, 1^st O/A

Ryan; “It's been a good day today and yesterday. We started day two OK and the weather. brightened up later.

“I did the Scotsman twice about 10 years ago, but not an awful lot of vintage prior to that. 10 or 11 years ago, I gave William my number and said you may need that, but he didn't, however, he's found me now 10 years later, probably mainly because Andy Pullan put him in touch through the organising team, but it’s working well.

“It’s definitely the fastest vintage rally car I've been in. It's a flying machine, it's built very well, driven by the man that built it, and prepared to exceptional standards. We’ve taken a bit off the corners of the tyres, due to the speeds were going and it's very dry. Despite the speed, it’s not scary on the tests, only when the door opens halfway around. But we pulled it shut again, and on we went!”

John Lomas and Pete Johnson, Riley Sprite, 2^nd O/A

John; We had a good minute lead on third and then we were at Otterburn. We missed the right slot. I reversed, and I got slightly giddy, and then managed to put the back two wheels in the ditch, tried to get out, couldn't said to Pete, you're gonna have to push. On the second push, we just about got out, which was good, but it cost us about a minute on the first TPA and then a six and a 14, so we just held on to second by 10 seconds, but I thought we'd still be there now digging it out!

“But those incredible tracks in the forests, unbelievable! I have that done six or seven Scotsman but that bit around the ranges was staggeringly good, and then coming into Scotland, well, we’ve all been given a Tunnocks Tea Cake, it’s like receiving the Royal Seal,  you know you are in Scotland! It was just a really good hard day’s rallying, although there is still a long way to go.”

Gerd Buhler and Maximillian Matt, (DE) BMW 327/28, 4^th O/A

Gert; “Oh, I came off the road and went just between two trees, which was lucky, but then I pressed down the brake and accelerator. So we have now bent valve in the engine, and we go and keep up with five cylinders, and see how far it goes. But I think it's not so bad. We do our very best, the tests will be slow, but on the regularities, Maximilian is a fantastic Navigator, and so we hope to keep among the top times.”

Maximilian. “It's been quite a blast. Okay, so it's the overall experience. I guess you have some pressure keeping the timing correct, keeping the right distances and also the correct route and tell the driver where he has to go. It's quite stressful in the regularities, especially as we are now not so fast in the tests, but I think we are doing quite a good job.”

Alex Vassbotten (NO) and Tony Brooks (GB), Alvis Fire Fly 12/70, 12^th O/A

Tony; It was a bit sad. I think it was a bit of a question of ambition over ability. It was on one of the tests that we just went round too quickly and too wide then straight into the trees. We were off the track quite a way, but fortunately didn't hit anything. There were some spectators or marshals there, and I felt pushing and shoving. We got out, but I think we dropped about a minute and a half in time.”