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16th Flying Scotsman

HERO-ERA

23rd-26th April 2026


Flying Scotsman 2026
Overall Winners: Theo Hunt/Jimmy Galliver (Frazer Nash TT Replica)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

Organiser: HERO-ERA

Date: 23rd-26th April 2026

Clerk of the Course: Guy Woodcock

Route: 548 Miles (19 Regs & 12 Tests)

Base: Gleneagles Hotel

Starters: 69


For the first time in its history the Flying Scotsman used a route entirely within Scotland, traditionally it had followed the eponymous train's route from England northwards. The event started and finished at Gleneagles Hotel, in between it spent two nights in Aberdeen.

Sixty-five cars started the main event, the sixteenth edition of the classic, with four others tackling the Lite Rally, where contenders only undertook the tests and not the regularities.

Competition commenced with a short 32 mile Prologue on Thursday evening; this consisted of one regularity and one test in a loop that circled towards Comrie and Crieff.

Peter Moore/Kit Moore (Riley Special) were best over the reg, dropping just one second, although the competition was close as twenty crews picked up fewer than ten seconds in penalties. Theo Hunt/Jimmy Galliver (Frazer Nash TT Replica) were fastest by three seconds on the test and this put them into the lead when the cars arrived back at Gleneagles. However, the pair had a problem, the alternator belt had snapped on the test, but they managed to get to the Finish and got the problem fixed that evening.

Hunt/Galliver had a clear two second lead over a trio of cars who were tied for second place; the furthest clean tie break gave Moore/Moore second place in front of Simon Arscott/Emily Anderson (Aston Martin Speed Model 2L) and John Lomas/Pete Johnson (Riley Sprite). Competition was still close with the tie break having to be used to separate crews throughout the field.

Friday dawned bright and sunny, a repeat of the conditions experienced throughout the 2025 Scotsman. The fine, if cold, weather was to remain for the rest of the 2026 event.

There were seven regularities and three tests on Leg One, with a 186 mile route taking the Scotsman to the first of two nights at the Ardoe House Hotel in Aberdeen, with the lunch halt being taken at Fonab Castle, near Pitlochary.

Proceedings opened with two tests and Hunt/Galliver extended their advantage at the front by taking fastest time, four seconds ahead of the rest of the field. On the Scotsman there is no class improvement scoring for the tests, scratch times are used, so this gave the Frazer Nash a six second lead after the test.

The chase was now being led by Arscott/Anderson, who narrowed the gap to the leaders by being quickest on Test 1/2 by three seconds. Then on Regularity 1/1 the Aston Martin took over the lead when they dropped three fewer seconds than Hunt/Galliver. The two crews were separated by only one second and this deficit was closed on the following regularity, leaving the Frazer Nash and Aston Martin tied for first place.

Arscott/Anderson were struggling with tripmeter problems and this caused them to drop six seconds to their rivals on the third regularity of the day. Hunt/Galliver then pulled six seconds further away on the Reg 1/4, as they were second best of all crews over the section.

Hunt/Galliver had put in the best performance over the morning section and now held a nine second lead over the Chevrolet Fangio Coupe of Tommy Dreelan/Mike Cochrane, who, in turn, were just a second ahead of Andrew Boland/Mark Bramall (Talbot AV105). Arscott/Anderson were now in fourth place.

Flying Scotsman 2026
Third Placed: Simon Arscott/Emily Anderson (Aston Martin Speed Model 2L)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

The afternoon started with two regularities, the first was around the base of Mount Blair, then, after a run over the Spittal of Glenshee, the second was to the east of Balmoral Castle. Boland/Bramall closed to within five seconds of the leaders after these, and Mike Dreelan/Miles Fieldhouse (Alvis 25) moved up to third. Dreelan/Fieldhouse were best on Reg 1/5 and Boland/Bramall were clean on Reg 1/6.

There then followed a test at the Deeside Activity Centre, near Kincardine. Hunt/Galliver were fastest here, but Boland/Bramall were only one second behind them.

There now remained the final regularity of the day, the trickiest of the leg. It was a disaster for Boland/Bramall, they struggled to find the correct route to the second of the three timing points and picked up a maximum one minute penalty. They fell to eighth place.

In contrast, Dreelan/Cochrane were best on one second, while Dreelan/Fieldhouse were one second further back. The latter were now in the runner up spot, 26 seconds behind Hunt/Galliver. Dreelan/Cochrane were in third place, on the same penalty as fourth placed Lomas/Johnson.

A road traffic accident involving a competitor disrupted the section for the latter half of the field on the regularity, so the affected crews were given nominal times.

Saturday was another fine day and competitors had six regularities and four tests to tackle before they returned to Aberdeen for a second night.

Leg Two was topped and tailed by tests at Mike Dreelan's premises just outside The Granite City. At the finish there was a display of Mike's steam engines and fairground attractions.

Fastest on the opening test were Arscott/Anderson, with Hunt/Galliver a second behind. Dreelan/Fieldhouse were seven seconds further back. Dreelan/Fieldhouse were best over the first regularity of the day, closing the gap to the leaders by four seconds, however there was then a test at the Grampian Motoring Museum and Hunt/Galliver, who were fastest at the venue, pulled out another six seconds over their nearest chasers.

Regularity 2/2, near Rhynie, had a tricky to find section through a farmyard, many dropped a great deal of time finding the correct route. In the battle for the lead, Dreelan/Fieldhouse were seventeen seconds better then Hunt/Galliver, and closed to within 18 seconds of first place. Dreelan/Cochrane struggled and added 81 seconds to their total; they fell to sixth place. Arscott/Anderson were now in third place, but in a close battle with Lomas/Johnson.

The third regularity of the leg took crews to the lunch halt at Netherdale House. Dreelan/Fieldhouse gained another two seconds on the leaders over the section; this meant that there were sixteen seconds between the two crews, it was as close as the Alvis would get to the Frazer Nash.

Flying Scotsman 2026
Fourth Placed: John Lomas/Pete Johnson (Riley Sprite)
Photograph: © HERO-ERA

The afternoon consisted of three more regularities and two tests. The two leading crews were evenly matched on the regs, but Hunt/Galliver were fastest on the two tests and gained nine seconds on their pursuers. The two crews were separated by 23 seconds at the end of the day.

Arscott/Anderson, who had put in the best performance of the leg, were almost a minute off the lead by this point, but only five seconds ahead of Lomas/Johnson. Dreelan/Cochrane and Boland/Bramall were recovering from their earlier errors and held fifth and sixth places respectively.

Leg Three was a short but intense day; it contained four tests and five regularities. It took the route back to Gleneagles, through the Kingdom of Fife, with the lunch halt at Perth Racecourse, where two tests were undertaken.

Proceedings opened with a third visit to Mike Dreelan's house. Hunt/Galliver were fastest here, as they were to be on all four of the day's tests. It wasn't surprising therefore that, at the Finish, Theo Hunt won the Test Pilot Award for the best performance over the event's twelve tests; his total test times were 40 seconds less than the second best, Simon Arscott.

In addition, Hunt/Galliver put in a better performance on the regularities than their chasers, including being best over the rather tricky final regularity. This meant that the pair came home with a victory margin of 1m19s. This was their seventh attempt at the Scotsman; they had finished third twice and in 2024 had broken down, while in the lead, on the last morning of the event. Their victory laid many ghosts to rest.

Dreelan/Fieldhouse had a more difficult day, but secured a clear second place, while Fieldhouse, the Bob Rutherford Scholarship winner in 2025, won the Clockwatchers Award for the best performance over the event's nineteen regularities.

Third place changed hands a number of times over the final leg, but Arscott/Anderson, despite their tripmeter problems, finished eleven seconds ahead of Lomas/Johnson. Dreelan/Cochrane put in the second best performance of the day, behind the winners, and finished in fifth, just fifteen seconds off fourth.

Of the sixty-five starters, all but seven made it to the Finish.


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