Record-breaking Harry Bates claims Narooma Forest Rally Heat 1 honours

Harry Bates and Coral Taylor have charged to a Heat 1 victory on the opening day of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Narooma Forest Rally after a near-perfect day behind the wheel of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Yaris Rally2.

Picking up four stage wins out of a possible six, Bates and Taylor ended up with a seven and a half second Heat win over Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall in the Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia Rally2, while Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin rounded out the top three.

It was a solid day out for the current championship leaders, with a five second win on the opening stage setting the scene for the day before they added three seconds to their lead with another victory on the second stage.

Pedder and Macneall managed to claw the deficit back by a couple of seconds after winning the day’s third stage, however Harry and Taylor responded with consecutive stage wins again – despite both margins being within one second.

The leaders ultimately finished third on the final stage of the day, with Lewis and McLoughlin claiming the Power Stage bonus points, however, their efforts were not enough to overhaul Harry and Taylor’s advantage.

The pair’s Heat 1 honours saw Harry enter rare territory, breaking Simon Evans’ longstanding record of EROAD Australian Rally Championship Heat wins.

Finishing the event in fourth place was rising star Jackson Long in his Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia R5, while Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith took out the final spot in the top five.

The New South Welshmen’s outright top five finish didn’t come without its drama though as they had gearbox and battery issues at the halfway point of the Heat, however, a busy service break helped them get back on the road.

The pair then guided the WINPART Group Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 5 to Heat 1 honours in both the WOLF SPORTS Cup and East Coast Cup competitions – comfortably edging out the next best crews.

Finishing second by more than a minute in the East Coast Cup and ending up sixth outright was the MRF Peugeot 208 of Tony Sullens and Julia Barkley, while Mal and Reagan Hurley placed seventh outright, second in the WOLF SPORTS Cup for the Heat and third in the East Coast Cup.

Falling just six seconds short of the Hurleys in eighth for the Heat were fellow Subaru WRX pilots Jarrod Keyte and Chris Stilling – the pair finishing one minute faster than ARC Junior Cup Heat winners Jaidyn Gluskie and Mitch Garrad, while Dale Lineker and Matt Lee in their Mitsubishi Evo 7 rounded out the top 10.

In the remaining cup, Shane and Sylvie Garner took out the Classic Cup honours having finished 14th overall. The pair were trailing until the returning Tom Clarke and Brad Jones retired on the penultimate stage.

Clarke and Jones were comfortably ahead for the majority of the day, sitting as high as sixth before DNFing on the penultimate stage due to a blown fuse.

There was no shortage of casualties either, with ARC debutants Lucas Reed and Isaac Ellis crashing out on the second stage – eventually making it back for the rest of the day, while James O’Malley and Jono Forest had mechanical woes in the morning and were never able to recover.

View the full results here.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Narooma Forest Rally continues tomorrow with another six stages awaiting crews, two of which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Australia and Kayo Sports.