Power Stage expert Lewis Bates buoyant of 2026 title charge

Lewis Bates is hopeful of using his incredible Power Stage form as a foundation for a legitimate charge to the 2026 EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) title.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia driver has been one of the shining lights of the ARC so far and currently sits third on the overall standings thanks to three consecutive podiums and his Power Stage victories.

Despite not having won an overall rally or a heat across the opening three rounds, he has kept himself in the title race by securing maximum bonus points on every Power Stage available.

With the ARC introducing Sprint Event Heat Power Stages for the 2026 season, Bates has gone on to win five of the season’s six Power Stages, which includes an impressive run of four in a row.

Interestingly, Bates has won just two additional stages on top of the Power Stages – highlighting his ability to find pace when it matters. However, despite his strong form, Bates is hopeful of converting that one-stage pace into a whole weekend.

View the full standings via the Subaru Results Hub.

“Five out of six Power Stages this year looks pretty good on paper, although I’d like to turn that into rally wins. We’ve got some work to do to be able to drive at that pace throughout the whole rally.

“The good thing is we know the pace is there. It just seems like we lose too much time on the first passes. Whether it’s the set-up or my driving style, something isn’t quite clicking early in the day, but by the afternoon stages and the Power Stage everything seems to come together.

“I’m really eager to be able to drive like that from the start of the rally because I think if we can, we’ll be very competitive.

“We’ve scored a fair amount of points from the Power Stages this year and that’s kept us in the championship hunt. Without those bonus points we’d probably be a fair way further back, but they’ve definitely kept us in touch.”

As for where that leaves his championship aspirations, Bates will undoubtedly be using the 2022 season as a key motivator in his hopes of securing a second title.

In that season, Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammate Harry Bates had a dream start to the year by winning the first three events before Lewis and co-driver Anthony McLoughlin produced a near-perfect run to win the final three events of the year – capped off with a Power Stage victory in the season finale on the Coffs Coast.

With Lewis in a somewhat similar position now at the halfway point, the 2022 ARC champion will take solace in the fact that he has a decent track record at the upcoming events – having won in Tasmania back in 2024, although it was a different location, and claimed South Australian events in both 2024 and 2025.

“I think it’s naturally harder to win a Power Stage when you’re leading the rally because you’re focused on bringing the result home,” Lewis added.

“At Narooma I was in third with a comfortable gap behind me, so I could afford to take a few more risks, and that certainly helped.

“That said, I still think our Power Stage pace is genuinely strong. The speed is there, but we need to work out why we’re so much stronger in the afternoon than we are in the morning. If we can find that rhythm from the first stage, we’ll be in a much better position.

“Now it’s about working out how to drive like that on every stage because I believe we can take it to Scott and Harry.

“We’re only halfway through the season and anything can happen in rallying. Anthony and I are still very motivated because our goal is to win the championship, and we’re certainly not out of it. We’re only halfway through the season and there’s very little separating the three of us.

“We’ve shown we’ve got the speed to challenge, so I’m confident we can keep fighting. Anything can happen in rallying, and I don’t think we’re in a bad position at all.

“Tasmania will be another big test with winter conditions and night stages, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

The 2026 EROAD Australian Rally Championship continues next month with the Subaru Wilderness Rally Tasmania on 14-16 August.