Flying Scotsman 2026 - Bonny Scotland provides Driving Bliss
*Theo Hunt and Jimmy Galliver lead battling Dreelan bothers
*Lomas and Johnson move to 4th – Sue Shoesmith and Trina Harley into 5th
*Spanish and Australian crews reach for sun block – in Scotland!
In sensational weather which witnessed the Spanish and Australian crews reaching for the sun block cream, Theo Hunt and Jimmy Galliver continued to lead the 2026 Flying Scotsman as they put on a scorching pace to lead in their Frazer Nash TT Replica.
Bonny Scotland was on full picture postcard display as the 186 mile route took crews from around the world on a stunning competition tour from Gleneagles to Aberdeen via the mirror calm of Loch Tummel, the heights of Glenshee, Braemar and past Royal Balmoral and even a lunch stop at turreted Fonab Castle where kilted clansmen gave parking instructions that nobody could understand.
Around the smooth calm of loch Tummel towards Pitlochry, the narrow tracks around waters edge were just pure driving bliss for the Vintage car crews. Navigators missed most of the sensational scenery as they had their heads down concentrating on the regularities and the route, but the Scottish crew of Alfie and Valerie Cheyne on their first ever rally in their Bentely 4 ½ Tour. Alfie said; “The scenery was absolutely amazing, and we live in Scotland! You never get the time to go out and enjoy it, but gosh that was beautiful!” Valerie added, “I haven’t been able to look as much, but when I did it was stunning!”
They may be Irish, but the battling Dreelan brothers are domiciled in Scotland and in fact have battled their way to their home patch of Aberdeen where they will continue the fight tomorrow, with a test even closer to home, in fact around new second place man Mike’s home tracks of his estate. Mike is being navigated by Bob Rutherford Scholarship winning young navigator Miles Fieldhouse (16) after the pair met at the HERO-ERA Awards at the Royal Automobile Club in London in January. The duo were seventh at lunch and climbed five places in their Alvis 25 to dislodge Tommy Dreelan and champion navigator Mike Cochran from second to third. This won’t be taken lightly by the Chevrolet Fangio Coupe crew who will be looking to hit back on Day Two.
However, with seven regularities and just three tests today, it shows just how well Theo Hunt and Jimmy Galliver are doing by keeping great times on the regularities and avoiding any navigational confusion as was witnessed on the last regularity of the day, and scoring on the tests where the young crew are so fast. Theo said: “Seven regs to three tests didn’t favour us today, but the number of tests will increase over the next few days.”
They hurled the little Frazer Nash TT sideways around the tight kart track at the Deeside Visitor Centre towards the end of the day, to be greeted by applause from crews waiting to compete. Then came a stunning lap from Andrew Boland and Mark Bramall in their Talbot AV 105, the Irish rally driver just one second off Theo’s time, but in a much bigger and less agile car. Andrew was beaming from ear to ear as he pulled off the track but the duo ended the day seventh overall, dropping some places from the morning.
Not so Simon Arscott and Emily Anderson in their Aston Martin as they climbed the tyre wall at the kart track hairpin and lost time. They had been joint second in the morning but dropped to sixth by the end of the day with severe trip meter problems.
Sue Shoesmith and Trina Harley have been climbing the leader board and not the tyre walls, as they have been super competitive on Day One to claim fifth place overall.
It is also great to see 2025 Peking Paris Motor Challenge winner Tony Sutton out on the Flying Scotsman with his daughter Ella over from University in Canada to join her father in their Chevrolet Master Coupe – the winning P2P car! The Australians are 21st and seventh in class.
They are bound to improve on that on Day Two over the course of 188 miles with four tests and six regularities, looping around to end up back in Aberdeen on Saturday night.
Alfie and Valerie Cheyne, Bentley 4 ½ Tour – on their first ever competitive rally.
“Not just the lochs with their reflections so clear but the rivers as well, they were crystal clear, just beautiful. All that, you know, the salmon rivers, it was just stunning. The whole day has been amazing, absolutely amazing. This has not really been about cars today, it's been about the scenery, because Scotland can be dull, it can be wet, but getting it like this is just fantastic and this is our first professional rally that we've done. So we've learned a lot.”
Valerie, laughing away said; “ It has been tough on the maps and the navigation, yes, but figuring out how to work a stopwatch has been my biggest challenge, but we've got here!”
Tomas de Vargas Machuca and Igino Angelini, Bentley 3/ 4 ½
“You couldn't wish for more than this. I mean, this is really quite extraordinary to have this kind of weather in Scotland, this time of the year which makes it even more enjoyable. For me, it makes me so happy because all these crews who come over from Holland and Germany, you know could be in terrible Scottish weather, and now everybody's just smiles, left, right and centre. So you can't ask for anything better than good weather and prewar cars in Scotland. Loch Tummel wasn't just a total reflection, actually, paradoxically it was like, do we have to be on a rally? I'd like to stop here and take some pictures!
“But it's a competitive event, like on all these events, you'll have probably about 50% of the crews who are really clued up. Igino, who's not used to British rallying, is really enjoying it. He's doing very, very well in the calculus. So it's competitive, and we're trying, I don't know, where we'll end up. We had a couple of clangers which is normal, but then when we look at the scoreboard and see these zeros, you say how do they do this stuff? They are so good.”
Tony and Ella Sutton, Chevrolet Master Coupe
Ella’s father Tony won the Peking to Motor Challenge in 2025. Ella was asked how the big win went down with the family?
Ella; “When he won the big one, I think everyone was a bit surprised, because historically, he's not always been number one. I think we came like 22nd originally, but everyone was watching, I was at Uni so I was checking the results every couple of days seeing if he was still in the top five. Eventually, all my friends were like, oh, is your dad still winning? Yeah, yeah, I think it went down well, everyone was so proud.
“I was still in Liverpool Uni then, now I'm studying bio veterinary science in Canada in Nova Scotia. Maybe, I will take up some navigating, I'm not sure. I mean, I do enjoy the navigating. I'm better at it than I expected, but it's not my typical kind of hobby. I'm more like hanging around animals and drawing and stuff. It is fun though, you get to see lots of the countryside, which is always a plus and being outside.”
Tony: “It's fantastic to rally with family, particularly in this event, which is a pretty family orientated few days, we spend quality time together with Ella who has only been home for a few days, so it's just fantastic, and then we have this amazing weather. Scotland could be Australia at the moment!,”
Stanley Schlesinger and Philipp Hess, 1923 Bentley 3 Litre - the oldest car in the rally
Stan; “It was car number 201 I think of the Bentleys, it's Philipp who owns it, he is the driver I'm the Navigator. It's remarkably comfortable, because it's a saloon with very well sprung seats, but things are a bit rattly. The gearbox is giving us lots of grief, just getting into gear and getting it out again, but it goes beautifully, up to about 50 miles an hour, maximum, 55 maybe on a downhill section, There are no front brakes on this model so it's a bit of a challenge on the steep hills.
“Philipp’s arms are hurting after the kart track, I all I do is hold a map, it's easy. We've had a wonderful reaction from people, everybody smiles, everybody waves, you know, local people and things, cyclists. We've had great response so, it's a joy. It's a pleasure for me as a navigator and Philipp as it's our first event ever.
I did rallying in the 70s and 80s, but just Clubman rallies. But Philip's first event in the car is good, it's run beautifully. We needed no oil, it purrs along, and you've got the weather, the Scottish weather, it's just been gorgeous today over the mountains, the snow is melting and it is absolutely magic, and the roads have been superb.”