Massive field for Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally

By Timothy Neal

Date posted: 22 November 2022

The Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally will get underway this weekend with a huge 70 car field on November 25-27.

The event incorporates the finale’s of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally (APRC) and the Australian Rally Championships (ARC), with the NSW Rally championship and East Coast Classic Rally series, as well as the NSW Clubman Rally Series and NSW Hyundai Rally Series.

33 entries will make up the international and National field’s, with a further 27 rounding out the state component of the massive Coffs Coast rally.

International rally star Hayden Paddon is the favourite for the APRC running, with the Kiwi WRC driver set to take on the local ARC cross-entrants of Lewis and Harry Bates, Richie Dalton, Luke Anear, and Daniel Gonzalez.

The ARC title is set to go down to the wire, with Lewis Bates assuming the lead over Harry Bates after a dominant performance at the Adelaide Hills Rally, where Lewis took out his second straight victory.

Just 27 points separate the ACT brothers, with victorian Troy Dowell 88 points back in third position, needing the Bates brothers to place out of the points to have any chance. Richard Dalton sits in fourth place with an extremely faint mathematical chance of taking out the title.

Despite a year of limited ARC runs, local racer and 2017 ARC champion Nathan Quinn has a wealth of experience on the Coffs Coast roads, and after scoring a P6 finish in Adelaide will be confident in front of his home fans.

2017 ARC Champion Nathan Quinn will be eagar to impress in his own backyard. Photo: Daniel Kalisz

Taylor Gill is leading the production cup ahead of Queensland champion Ronald Bustard, with seven drivers in contention for the title, including Jamie Luff and young gun Max McRae, who is looking for his third class win of the season in just four appearances.

For the 2WD Cup, Guy Tyler, Dean Ridge and James Dimmock will be eager to push for the Cup honours, while Molly Spalding and Aidan Peterson, along with Dimmock, will also be battling hard for the Glendun Junior Cup win.

Director of Motorsport & Commercial Operations Michael Smith said the 70-car entry list highlighted the strong interest in this event.

“The roads around the Coffs Harbour region are some of the very best rally roads in the country and have plenty of history, previously hosting a number of landmark events, including Rally Australia,” Smith said.

“The Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally will see an international rally return to the region through the APRC, as well as one of the closest Australian title fights in recent years between some of the best drivers in the country in the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship.

“Already we’ve seen a really strong level of spectator interest, with the free tickets flying out the door, so we expect a big attendance across the weekend, beginning with the free Rally Show at the C.ex International Stadium on Friday evening.”

ARC Championship Standings

Lewis Bates 398
Harry Bates 371
Troy Dowell 310
Richard Dalton 289
Daniel Gonzalez 191

For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

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Massive field for Supercheap Auto Coffs Coast Rally

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