Bates/Taylor clinch ARC thriller

Harry Bates and Coral Taylor have clinched the Australian Rally Championship on the final stage at the National Capital Rally to overcome fellow Toyota pair Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin in a thriller.

The duo needed to take both the outright and also the bonus points from the Power Stage to take the win over Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, and they did just that by two seconds over their Toyota rivals and defending champions.

In the end it was a six second margin in the outright stakes, adding to the ARC’s Bates/Taylor records, taking the championship by a solitary point, flipping around a six second deficit to the #1 GR Yaris after the first day of action.

Bates overcame an initial Sunday deficit to deny his brother a second straight ARC title. Image: EPIC Sports Photography

For Harry, it was his second ARC title after taking out 2019 alongside John McCarthy, whilst for Taylor it was her fifth title and first since 2008 after winning four ARC championships alongside Harry’s father Neil Bates.

“I just can’t believe it. I’m totally lost for words,” Bates said.

“It’s been a really, really up and down year and for it to culminate in this (the title) in front of so many Canberrans, it’s incredible to see so many fans out here to witness it.

“There is a lot of relief right now and I’m just so happy that we’re able to do the job today.

“It’s just amazing to have my team right here behind me – an incredibly hard working group of guys and girls who also deserve a round of applause – and obviously to have my family here as well, it’s emotional. I just can’t believe it’s my second ARC title.

Gill was fantastic on his return to Aussie shores to clinch the Production Cup win alonside regular co-driver Dan Brkic. Image: Gears and Wheels Photography

“It didn’t all go exactly to plan this weekend. We had a lot going on in the car and obviously the battle between Lewis and I was very tight, but we had to make sure that we were keeping up our intensity because Lewis and Anthony were on fire this weekend.

“The fact that the battle came down to 3.9 seconds for the event is just crazy. It took a lot of mental strength to get through this weekend.”

With Lewis taking second place the Skoda pairing of Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey rounded out the podium as well as third in the championship, with the returning Taylor Gill and Dan Brkic finishing +1.21.9 behind them to clinch the Production Cup win.

Despite finishing the event in 13th place overall, Young Tasmanian Bodie Reading also secured the Production Cup title for the season, with Steve Maguire and Ben Searcy needing to win the class to have any chance.

Maguire and Brakey rounded out the outright podium to take third in the ARC championship. Image: Gears and Wheels Photography

The Maguire/Searcy pairing ended up in tenth overall and third in class, after the recently returned and former ARC champion Molly Taylor took second behind the rampant Gill in the Subaru.

In other classes, Tom Clarke and Ryan Preston steered their Datsun Stanza to 17th place outright to win the ARC Classic Cup for the second consecutive round, while rising stars Josh Wiedman and Nick Reid edged out Ben and Cathy Hayes by just over a minute to win the ARC 2WD Cup.

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