Fierce weather greeted participants in the eighth Flying Scotsman Vintage Reliability Trial, throwing rain, hail, sleet and snow at the 100 crews as they trekked from the start at Leicestershire’s Belvoir Castle, through some 700 miles of Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland and into Scotland for the Gleneagles finale. At the end of the toughest event yet, Gareth Burnett and Martyn Taylor brought their 1931 Talbot 105 Alpine to the finish first.
“As much as we are delighted to win and grateful to the Endurance Rally Association for organising such a fantastic event,” said Burnett afterward, “I’d also like to thank all the other competitors for bringing out these amazing vintage cars and doing with them what they were designed for. It’s a pleasure to be on the road with them.”
The winning crew finished with an overall total of 0:28:06, with 2nd place going to John Abel and Leigh Powley in the 1937 Lagonda LG45 at 0:28:45 (above), and the 1938 Bentley Derby 4 of Stuart Anderson and Andy Pullen, taking 3rd with 0:29:38.
Fred Gallagher, Rally Director of the Endurance Rally Association (ERA), said: “Our competitors faced every type of weather condition imaginable over three days of intense driving in some very exposed terrain and remained in great spirits throughout. Our thanks go to every crew and marshal who once again made it a fantastic event for the vintage motorist.”
Two special awards were also presented at the prize giving dinner at the Gleneagles Hotel, with the Concours d’Elegance trophy going to the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C of Shane Houlihan and Richard Pain. There was also a win for the oldest Pioneer car in the rally, the 1911 Knox Type R, bravely crewed by Michel Laarman and Maryon Grief who tackled every speed test, regularity run and challenging mountain climb alongside cars 30 years younger.
The Spirit of the Rally award went to Matthew Abrey and Jasper Hulscher in the 1931 Ford Model A, who found themselves doing a clutch replacement on Saturday night, getting the car reassembled in time to check out of the first time control on time.
Class wins went to variety of marques, with Paul Crosby and Ali Proctor in the 1939 MG TB Supercharged winning Class 2 for cars up to 1500cc, and Martin Hunt and Robert Mannix in the 1937 Frazer Nash BMW 328 winning Class 3 for cars 1501 to 2000cc.
Last year’s runners up Bill Cleyndert and Dan Harrison in the 1928 Ford Model A won Class 4 (Vintage cars 1920-1930 over 2000cc), while Shane Houlihan and Richard Pain in the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C won Class 5 (Vintageant cars 1931-1948 2001 to 3000cc). Class 6 (Vintageant cars 1931-1948 over 3000cc) was won by Dirk and Nick Van Praag in the 1936 Delahaye 135M.
The ninth Flying Scotsman Rally will take place from Friday March 31 to Sunday April 2, 2017, starting from Slaley Hall, in Hexham, Northumberland, which will allow crews to experience more of the Scottish terrain. Entries are now open. For complete details please visit www.endurorally.com
