Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin win Heat 1 at Adelaide Hills Rally

EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) leaders Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin have extended their lead at the top of the standings after winning Heat 1 of the Adelaide Hills Rally.

In what has been one of the most exciting days of the 2026 ARC season, there were six lead changes at the top of the standings over the course of 10 stages as Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia’s Bates and McLoughlin eventually took out top honours for the Heat by just under five seconds.

Finishing second in Heat 1 after leading multiple times during the day was Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall in the Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia Rally2, while Harry Bates and Coral Taylor rounded out the top three at the end of 12 stages, a further five seconds off.

Taking out WOLF SPORTS Cup honours was Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith, while husband-wife duo Glenn and Bec Campbell marked their first ARC appearance in two years with a 2WD Cup Heat 1 win.

Rounding out the class victors for Heat 1 of the Adelaide Hills Rally were Bradley Clements and Naomi Povey, who claimed Classic Cup honours.

View the full results via the Subaru Results Hub.

Although 10 seconds separated the trio of title contenders at the conclusion of the Heat, the battle was extremely close throughout the day, with each crew leading the field at least once.

With the rally starting on Friday night at the Mid Murray Motorplex for the Autobahn MMM Super Special Stage, it was Lewis and McLoughlin who ended up the night on top having finished both runs of the stage with the best time – the first of which was shared with their TGRA teammates after both crews posted the same time.

On Saturday morning, it was Pedder and Macneall who got off to a dream start with a three-second stage win over Harry and Taylor to move into the lead by three seconds.

Harry and Taylor then won the next stage to close the gap on Pedder and Macneall before making it two in a row on SS5 – their second win, once again shared with Lewis and McLoughlin who posted the exact same time.

Another stage win to Harry and Taylor gave them the lead for the first time since Friday night – however, their time at the top of the event standings was short-lived after Pedder and Macneall went fastest on the next stage.

Lewis and McLoughlin then claimed back-to-back standalone stage wins to snatch the lead by just half a second before Pedder and Macneall wrestled their way back into the lead ahead of the final service of the day.

On the penultimate stage, Lewis and McLoughlin then produced a massive move back into the lead before sealing the deal by winning the Power Stage – their sixth consecutive win for bonus points.

Pedder and Macneall ended up finishing the stage in second place to end the day three seconds ahead of Harry and Taylor who settled for third.

In fourth place were young guns Jackson Long and Damien Long in the second Pedders Rally Team Protected by Famous Insurance Skoda Fabia, while Redhead and Winwood-Smith rounded out the top five for the day.

In sixth outright were ARC regulars Darren and Michelle Crozier, who finished the day second in the WOLF SPORTS Cup behind the leaders – the husband-wife team scoring their best Heat finish of the year in the process.

Making up the remaining finishers for the day were Glenn and Bec Campbell, who guided their Volkswagen Polo to the 2WD Cup honours – a tremendous story considering they were able to get their vehicle rally-ready on Friday – and the Subaru WRX of Bradley Clements and Naomi Povey, who were classified despite their crash towards the end of the day.

There was no shortage of drama throughout a wet and wild Saturday in the Adelaide Hills, with many heavy hitters forced to withdraw from the day after incidents on stage five.

The two big casualties from the day were the returning Clayton Hoy and Brad Jones, who suffered terminal damage after hitting a bank midway through the stage – the same point that Tony Sullens and Julie Barkley also crashed their Peugeot 208.

View the full results via the Subaru Results Hub.

The Adelaide Hills Rally continues tomorrow with Heat 2 from 8:03am ACDT with a further 10 stages awaiting crews.