Harry Bates and Coral Taylor claim historic Narooma Forest Rally win

Harry Bates and Coral Taylor have notched up win number two for the 2026 EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) after another impressive display on a fast Sunday in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Narooma Forest Rally.

Picking up where they left off yesterday, the pair managed to replicate their efforts in Heat 2 to produce a 13-second victory over fellow title contenders Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall and win the Heat, ultimately claiming overall event honours in the process.

Ending the day and the event overall in third place were their Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, who finished Sunday’s action 25 seconds off the winners.

Similarly to his record-breaking Heat 1 victory, Harry proved a man on a mission during the morning loop as he picked up the day’s opening three stages. Despite a clean sweep of stage wins, he went into the midday service with a five-second lead over Pedder and Macneall.

The Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance managed to reduce the gap to four seconds in the fourth stage of the day as Pedder edged out Harry by one second, only for the leader to reply with a three and a half second stage win – taking out the gap to almost eight seconds.

The ARC Championship leaders then landed the knock-out blow on the Power stage when they went five seconds faster than their rivals and sealed the Heat by 13 seconds and the event overall.

“It’s been a pretty incredible weekend. It’s my home rally, so to win both heats, the overall event victory, and the record for the most ARC heat wins, which is something I’ve been chasing for a while, feels pretty special,” Harry said.

“We’re halfway through the championship now, and it’s still incredibly close between the top three. None of us have been able to build a significant gap over the others, so I’m expecting the second half of the season to be just as tight.

“There’s no doubt this weekend was important for our championship campaign because we managed to extend our points buffer over Scott and Glenn.

“With that said, it’s far from over. Tasmania is an endurance event, and you have to make it to the finish to score the points. It was a great weekend for us, but there’s still a long way to go.”

Despite Harry and Taylor winning the event overall on the last stage, it was Lewis and McLoughlin who scored the ever-important bonus points having won the Power Stage – remarkably their fifth for the year.

In fourth place for both the Heat and the event was Jackson and Damien Long in their Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia R5, while Winpart Group’s Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith rounded out the overall top five and claimed Heat honours in both the WOLF SPORTS Cup and East Coast Cup.

The New South Welshmen’s Sunday efforts saw them stand atop the event podium in both Cups as they led a number of crews from both respective classes in the outright top 10.

Ending the day in outright sixth place was the Subaru WRX STI of Jarrod Keyte and Chris Stilling, who finished with a 25-second buffer over Dale Lineker and Matt Lee in their Mitsubishi. Keyte and Stilling’s consistency was enough to seal them a runner-up finish in both the East Coast Cup and the WOLF SPORTS Cup.

In eighth for the Heat was Nathan Stokes and Ian Wheeler on board their Subaru WRX STI, as the pair scored their best ever result in the championship together – finishing the day in fourth for both the WOLF SPORTS Cup and the East Coast Cup.

Rounding out the top 10 for the Heat was Tony Sullens and Julia Barkley in ninth – the duo recovering from a challenging morning to work their way back into the top 10 – and the rookie duo of Kristian Springer and Jarrad Vanderhor.

Racing Dipsy’s Shane and Sylvie Garner claimed the Classic Cup honours for the Heat and the event overall thanks to another consistent day behind the wheel. The pair faced some late drama on their way back to Galvaniize Insurance Rally Central – as they were forced to physcially push their Subaru over the line.

ARC debutants Lucas Read and Isaac Ellis had a similar outcome as they finished every stage on Sunday to win the Heat, also claiming the ARC Junior Cup after yesterday’s winner Jaidyn Gluskie withdrew overnight.

View the full results via the Subaru Results Hub.

Following a historic debut in the forests of Narooma, the EROAD Australian Rally Championship now turns to the Apple Isle in six weeks’ time for the Subaru Wilderness Rally Tasmania on 14-16 August.