Canberra kicks off new Australian Rally Championship
The Australian Rally Championship looms this weekend with the Rally of Canberra the perfect kick starter.
The ROC outing heads up a six round calendar with the usual suspects of WA, Queensland, Victoria, Adelaide, and Tassie to follow, with Canberra to host 26 national crews on its rough and rocky forest roads, whilst fans are also treated to Friday’s Rally Show at Scotts Crossing to get up close with the machinery.
With NZ rally legend and two-time European European Rally champion Harry Paddon (and co-driver John Kennard ) joining the fray for his first full time ARC season. His Hyundai i20 N Rally 2 will provide the main challenge needed against the recently dominant Bates brothers in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2’s.
Hometown drivers Harry and Lewis Bates enter the season alongside respective co-drivers Coral Bates and Anthony McLoughlin having taken the last four titles (L.Bates 2022), with Harry also having dominated the recent ROC events on his way to three titles in that time.
But it won’t be all Paddon and Bates machinery to provide the ROC heat, with 2014 champion and 2024 Queensland winners Scott Pedder (co-driver Glenn Macneall) brining a brand new Skoda Fabia Rally 2, whilst Paddon’s Hyundai will also have stern company via the i20 Rally 2’s of the Alex Rullo/Steve Glenney, and Peter Rullo/Ben Searcy combinations.
Other notable ARC class pairings include Ford Fiesta R5 representatives Tom Clarke/Ryan Preston, Josh Redhead/Ray Winwood-Smith (2012 i20) and Stewart Reid in the Mitsubishi Mirage AP4.
Heading up the Production Cup challenge will be the likes of Mick Hardick/James Thornburn and Josh Wiedman/KJ Miller in a pair of Lancer EVO 6 – P5’s, whilst Andrew Penny/Rhys Llewellyn will contest in a ’95 WRX – C3.
Alongside the national 2WD and 4WD classic cups, Junior Cup, and state NSWRC and Production, ECCRS, and ACTRRS fields, there’s 35 crews all up to take on 207km of competitive distance (Sat-102km/Sun-105km) in the Tidbinbilla and Kowen Forest regions.
“There has been a lot of work that has gone into this event and I think the best rally drivers in the country are going to put on a brilliant display for the people of Canberra,” Rally of Canberra Clerk of Course Adrian Dudok said.
“We aren’t due for pure sunny days, but the forecast is decent and I think we should avoid what happened last year. I just hope the weather behaves!
“Of course we couldn’t be doing what we are without the incredible work of our volunteer officials and I’m eternally grateful for their efforts and dedication each and every year.
“A big thank you as well to Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia for getting behind this event. It’s brilliant to have such strong support from an organisation as prestigious as TGRA.”
After finishing on top in the first day of official testing in the ACT, defending ARC champion Harry Bates said he couldn’t wait for the season proper to get underway.
“We couldn’t be happier with how last year panned out. The GR Yaris Rally2 drove superbly, and we were able to string together some consistently strong finishes across the season” Harry said.
“The cars are running really well through testing for both Lewis and I, which is encouraging for the season ahead. We’re really looking forward to the season and can’t wait to get stuck into our title defence at Rally of Canberra.”
Image: Peter Norton Epic Sports Photography
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