Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin lead Rally Tasmania after dramatic opening day

Following a dramatic opening day of the Subaru Wilderness Rally Tasmania, Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin head into the midway point of the event with a lead of less than one second.

Behind the wheel of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia, the pair produced three wins across the seven stages to head into Saturday night with an overall time of 1:01:58 and a lead of just nine tenths over fellow EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) title contenders Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall.

In what proved an entertaining opening day of the rally, the two crews were locked in a three-way battle with championship leaders Harry Bates and Coral Taylor for all seven stages with very little separating the trio as they all picked up stage wins throughout.

However the event was turned on its head on the final stage when Harry and Taylor had an 8g impact crash and the enormity of the damage sustained on the TGRA GR Yaris Rally2 forced them to withdraw despite limping to the end of the final stage.

That withdrawal elevated Pedders Rally Team protected by Famous Insurance’s Jackson and Damien Long to third place having occupied fourth for the whole day.

Prior to their unfortunate demise, Harry and Taylor led the field for the whole day as they claimed the opening stage before finishing second on four consecutive stages as both Pedder and Lewis traded wins.

While Harry and Taylor won the first of two Haywayds Rally Village night stages on Saturday evening, their rally eventually came to an end one kilometre into the final stage when they crashed out.

That incident should have handed Pedder and Macneall the lead, however a remarkable effort from Lewis on that final stage saw him snatch the lead from the Pedders Rally Team protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia Rally 2 of Pedder and Macneall.

Although missing out on the lead at the halfway point, it was an impressive result for Pedder considering he faced a number of issues, including a spin in the morning and unusual drama of his bonnet almost coming unstuck on SS4.

In fourth position for the day was Bodie Reading and Brad Jones in their Les Walkden Rallying backed Subaru WRX STI – their pair also comfortably lead the WOLF Sports Cup with the next best crew in Toby Price and Ben Searcy more than two and a half minutes further off.

While the reigning WOLF Sports Cup champions have a big lead at the top of the class, it was far from easy for the duo as they were locked in a tight battle with current Cup leaders Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith for much of the day.

Only 16 seconds separated the two crews at the end of four stages, however Redhead and Winwood-Smith crashed out three-quarters into the fifth stage of the day – ultimately putting an end to their event as a result.

The Mitsubishi EVO5 wasn’t the only casualty to occur on the stage, with MRF Tyres’ Tony Sullens and Julia Barkley going over the side of a ditch, breaking the windshield of the Citroen DS3, while Jarrod Keyte and James Brown also suffered dramas as they got bogged down at the same corner.

Redhead and Sullens’ woes opened up the door for Price to slot into sixth overall before ultimately rounding out the top five thanks to Harry and Taylor’s issue. Price and Searcy also ended the day in second for the WOLF Sports Cup, while also enjoying the lead in the Subaru WRX Challenge, which returns for the first round since May’s ARC Plant Hire Forest Rally.

Just over 30 seconds off Price and Searcy are their rivals Riley Walters and Andrew Crowley in sixth outright, with the pair ending the day third in the WOLF Sports Cup, second on the Subaru WRX Challenge and first in the Junior Cup.

Walters’ Junior Cup rival in Jaidyn Gluskie and co-driver Mark Young sit in seventh overall a further two minutes off after producing a consistent seven stages throughout the day – improving in each pass.

Behind them in eighth and ninth respectively was another intriguing battle as Subaru WRX Challenge contenders Jeff David and Grant Geelan lead the Ford Fiesta G4 of Darren and Michell Crozier after the pair received a one minute penalty.

Rounding out the top 10 are ARC Classic Cup leaders Shane and Sylvie Garner in their Racing Dipsy Subaru WRX.

View the full Subaru Results Hub here.

Just eight stages remain in the event with the first stage of the day to take place at 8:56am AEST.