Bates brothers on top in Adelaide as Harry wins Heat 2 and Lewis wins event outright

Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin have extended their lead in the EROAD Australian Rally Championship standings after a second place in Heat 2 of Adelaide Hills Rally gave them the overall victory.

Their TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia teammates Harry Bates and Coral Taylor claimed top honours for the Heat, finishing the event in second place.

Rounding out the Heat 2 top three and the overall event podium was young gun Jackson Long, who enjoyed his strongest day yet in the ARC, posting the second fastest outright time behind the wheel of the Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia R5 on two stages.

Claiming fourth for the Heat was WOLF SPORTS Cup winners Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith, while ARC Classic Cup winners Bradley Clements and Naomi Povey had a far cleaner run compared to Saturday, finishing fifth outright.

In comparison to Saturday’s action, Heat 2 of the ARC’s penultimate round of 2026 was far more straightforward as better weather conditions allowed crews to proceed.

However, the most notable moment of the weekend came just as Sunday’s action began when Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall hit a post just 300 metres into the first stage of the day, sending their Skoda Fabia Rally2 down an embankment and breaking the steering arm of the car – leaving them stranded.

Eventually they were able to get the car out and rejoin the rally after the day’s first service break, however, with significant time added to their overall time.

While they ultimately finished the heat in eighth place, more than 30 minutes behind their title race rivals, it was enough to score valuable championship points and stay within reach of Lewis and McLoughlin ahead of the season finale in Gippsland.

Despite the championship leaders extending their lead at the top of the standings, the day truly belonged to the GR Yaris Rally2 of Harry and Taylor, who produced an almost perfect day.

Claiming seven of the nine completed stages, including the ever-important Power Stage, the duo looked comfortable throughout the whole day as they enjoyed a 20-second Heat victory.

In the classes, Josh Redhead’s Heat 2 WOLF SPORTS Cup victory saw him seal maximum points for the weekend, while husband-wife duo Darren and Michelle Crozier finished the class in second place ahead of Clements and Povey.

Clements and Povey didn’t walk away empty handed, claiming the Classic Cup Heat 2 win and overall weekend honours, while Glenn and Bec Campbell marked their return to the ARC with a 2WD Cup victory.

View the full results via the Subaru Results Hub.

With just one round remaining, Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin now sit on 465 points, 41 ahead of Pedder and Macneall, while Harry and Taylor’s Heat 2 win saw the gap close to within 80 points after losing ground on Saturday.

The ARC now turns its attention to the final round with The Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally on November 20-22.

QUOTES

Lewis Bates
Adelaide Hills Rally winner

“Super stoked to win the event. It was a really challenging event from Friday night, actually, with the rain coming for the second pass of the super special,” Lewis said.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever driven in such slippery conditions, and then the rain throughout the whole event made it really challenging. We did it from car one on the road as well.”

“I’m really happy with how strong our pace was yesterday. The battle between Harry, Scott and us was intense all day, and I’m super happy

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