Harry Bates and Coral Taylor have taken their latest Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) win in a chaotic Sunday of action at The Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally.
Bates and Taylor were locked in an intense battle with Championship combatants Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall, before several incidents saw Pedder fall out of contention for the rally win.
Bates and Taylor also claimed maximum points in the Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage to cap off a perfect weekend in the forests of eastern Victoria as part of the fourth round of the ARC.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin have made it a one-two finish for the team, with Lewis edging out Pedder by just 1.3 seconds at the end of the Power Stage on the timesheets.
For Pedder, while he would finish the rally third on the outright standings after the Power Stage, the damage to the Pedders Suspension and Brakes Skoda Fabia R5 forced them to the side of the road for running repairs on the return to Pedders Rally Central.
However, the damage was severe and with Pedder needing to return to service under his own power to claim maximum points. Ultimately the team would be demoted down the order, losing valuable Championship points to Harry Bates as the car was towed into the final time control.
“It’s a very important one for the championship, obviously being the half-way point and second half of the season starting here,” Bates said.
“A strong one for us. Obviously, we led from the first to the last stage, so very happy with that. Even today when we backed off slightly, our pace was still okay.
“I’m looking forward to battling it out for the rest of the season with Scott, but it’s nice have a bit of a points advantage now.”
View the day’s standings at the Subaru Results Hub.
Pedder’s misfortune was Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey’s gain – the Tasmanian pair was promoted to the podium after Pedder’s failure to return to service under his own steam.
Earlier in the day, Alex Rullo and co-driver Steve Glenney would be left stranded in stage after mechanical dramas following a creek crossing left them unable to continue. Teammates Peter Rullo and James Marquet were also left stranded just one stage later after impact forced them to retire from the event.
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Turning the attention to the ARC Cups, and there were plenty of casualties throughout the field.
In the MainFix Production ARC Cup, Molly Taylor and co-driver Andy Sarandis would end her final round of her 2024 campaign with a class win – made even more sweet given she was able to overcome late mechanical dramas to hang on to the victory.
For the Junior ARC Cup, Mitch Garrad and co-driver Taylah Murphy continued their strong run of form to edge out Molly Spalding and co-driver Adam Branford.
Looking at this round’s 2WD ARC Cup, Nick Seymour and co-driver Matt Whitten continued their momentum from Saturday to take out an impressive class victory.
In the Trenching Systems Australia 2WD Classic ARC Cup, Ivan Thompson and Lachlan Nordsvan were victorious in their crowd favourite Ford Capri.
And in a hugely successful debut, the Subaru WRX Challenge inaugural victory would go to Timothy Clark and Leonie Clark – the pair consistent across the weekend to claim the win.
Crews now turn their attention to the Adelaide Hills Rally in South Australia on 13-15 September.
