Harry Bates and Coral Taylor strike first in 2026 EROAD Australian Rally Championship

The 2026 EROAD Australian Rally Championship is officially underway as Harry Bates and Coral Taylor drew first blood of the season with victory in Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland Heat 1.

Behind the wheel of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Yaris Rally2, the pair took out five of the day’s eight stages to claim the heat by 17 seconds over the Pedders Rally Team, Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall.

Rounding out the day’s top three was Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Yaris Rally2 after the pair won three of the day’s stages, including the first ever Saturday Power Stage.

While Lewis and McLoughlin had a productive day banking bonus points, it was their teammates who proved too strong overall, as a strong morning saw them build a healthy lead over the rest of the field before maintaining it for the remainder of the day.

Rising star Jackson Long enjoyed a memorable debut performance in his newly acquired Skoda Fabia R5 to finish fourth for the day alongside father Damien, while Troy Dowel and Bernie Webb claimed fifth place by two seconds after edging out Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith.

What turned out to be an entertaining battle between the pair not only secured crucial outright points for Dowel and Webb, but also saw them snatch the Heat 1 victory in the East Coast Cup.

Despite missing out on the ARC’s newest national class, Redhead and Winwood-Smith didn’t walk away from Saturday’s action empty-handed as they steered their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 5 to Heat 1 honours in the WOLF Sport Cup – beating Subaru WRX Challenge Heat 1 winners Toby Price and Ben Searcy in the class.

Splitting the two separate Cup winners in seventh overall were Tony Sullens and Julia Barkley in their MRF Tyres Peugeot 208 thanks to a highly consistent day behind the wheel, while ARC debutant Riley Walters enjoyed an impressive outing in the ARC Junior Cup and finished ninth overall with co-driver Andrew Crowley.

Taking out the final place in the top 10 was Dale Linker and Craig Thomas, while fellow Mitsubishi representatives Ian Griffin and Emmett McNulty enjoyed top honours for the day in the Classic Cup.

The opening day of the 2026 ARC season proved highly successful as thousands of Gympie locals came out to watch the best rally drivers in the country do their thing at both the Spectator Stage and the Campbell’s Super Special Stage right in the heart of the city.

As crews put on a show for the locals, there was no shortage of drama either, with the Ford Fiesta G4 of Darren and Michelle Crozier catching fire during the first pass of the Super Special Stage on Saturday afternoon.

Dipsy Racing’s Shane and Silvie Garner also had a big moment during the event as they had an off in the morning – forcing them to effectively retire the car due to radiator damage. However, thanks to the goodwill of the town, the pair were donated a radiator and were able to continue running.

View the full results via the Subaru Results Hub.

The Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland continues tomorrow, with Heat 2 to begin from 8:26AM AEST, where there will be seven stages and 82 competitive kilometres awaiting crews. Having been third on the road, Lewis will start from the front of the field tomorrow after tonight’s Ballot.