Bates takes off in the Hills
Once again the Toyota powered Bates brothers wrestled for Australian Rally Championship supremacy in South Australia with Lewis prevailing in the Adelaide Hills Rally.
Success in Sunday’s heat two sealed a tight 4.4s victory for Lewis Bates and co-driver Anthony McLaughlin over Harry Bates and Carol Taylor, who were denied a third straight win.
Lewis’ second win of the 2023 ARC season partly came due to a 25sec penalty to his brother on SS22 and spin two stages later helped him seal the deal despite finishing second to his brother in the Power Stage finale.
But he got the job done and the result puts the reigning Australian Rally champion on the front foot ahead of November’s National Capital Rally finale.
Eddie Maguire was a distant third, more than a minute back, while Molly Taylor finished sixth in her ARC comeback.
“Thank you to the whole team – they have worked so hard all weekend, and I’m glad we brought home results for them,” Bates said.
“We probably didn’t have the tidiest run in the Power Stage, so I am not surprised that Harry got us back – we had a fair crack, so hats off to him.
“It hasn’t been the easiest weekend, but we never gave up. We kept fighting the whole way and we put ourselves in a good position at the end, so we’re absolutely over the moon.
“The Adelaide roads are very fast and they require a lot of confidence and bravery and I think we showed that we have the confidence on the fast road.
“A bit of work we need to do when the conditions change, but overall, they’re amazing roads and I love the scenery in the Adelaide Hills.”
The rally kicked off with 40 crews based at the Shell V-Power Motorsport Park facility where drivers took on two special night stages on the GT circuit.
On Saturday Harry Bates and Taylor held the upper hand with a 16.8s advantage over the #1 Toyota after taking out 10 of the 14 stages.
The reigning champions then hit back by taking the early Sunday stages before the #2 hit back, while Alex Rullo broke the Bates’ dominance in SS20.
But the turning point came on SS22 when Bates/Taylor received a penalty before a spin added insult to injury.
This pushed Bates/McLaughlin into a lead they would not let go.
In the race for third in the championship, Eddie Maguire snatched third in the championship from the Adelaide absent Nathan Quinn.
All roads lead to Canberra with a big season finale in store at the National Capital Rally on November 18-19.
Image: Jack Martin Photography
ARC STANDINGS AFTER 5 ROUNDS
- L.Bates/McLaughlin 444
- H.Bates/Taylor 421
- E.Maguire/Brakey 283
- Anear/Read 245
- Quinn/Winwood-Smith 227
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