Bates and Taylor Claim Consecutive ARC Championships

Harry Bates and Coral Taylor have secured consecutive titles in the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championships, triumphing at the 2024 Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania with a winning margin of 13 seconds over their nearest rivals.

With a remarkable tally of nine championships shared between them — Bates boasting three and Taylor six — the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia team established a commanding lead from Saturday, ultimately clinching the Possum Bourne Memorial Trophy with a total of 398 Championship points.

“Achieving three championships is incredibly special; it feels almost surreal to be mentioned alongside such legendary names once you’ve reached this milestone,” remarked Bates.

“This year has been truly fantastic; I’m grateful for my incredible team, and a big thank you to Coral Taylor for her outstanding performance behind the wheel. We are incredibly excited for what 2025 holds.”

Trailing the 2024 champions, the contest for second place was fiercely contested between Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, as well as Tasmanian Eddie Maguire partnered with co-driver Zak Brakey. Lewis Bates’s Toyota GR Yaris secured second place overall in the rally and also took top honours in the Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage, yet it was Eddie Maguire who finished the season as runner-up to Harry Bates in the overall championship contest.

Maguire also capped off a successful weekend on home ground, finishing third overall and claiming the title of the top Tasmanian.

Check out the day’s results at the Subaru Results Hub.

During the opening trio of stages on Sunday, it was the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia duo of Lewis Bates and McLoughlin who set the fastest times, with Harry Bates and Taylor trailing by less than a second across stages SS11 to SS13. Nevertheless, they successfully held onto their overall lead.

With Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall forced to retire due to radiator issues on Saturday, Alex Rullo and co-driver Steve Glenney seized the opportunity to secure a top three finish in each stage, ultimately nabbing the final podium spot at Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania.

The IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing Hyundai i20 Rally2 kept up its fierce competition with local drivers Maguire and Brakey, with only a minute separating the two teams as they approached the concluding stages of the 2024 season. Rullo encountered turbo boost problems during the final stage, limping to the finish with significantly reduced power.

In the MainFix Production Cup, Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly maintained their impressive pace into Sunday, finishing comfortably in the overall top ten. The Mitsubishi team triumphed in the first two stages on Sunday but lost ground in SS13, ultimately finishing second to Bodie Reading and Mark Young. Despite this setback, Hoy and Kelly held a significant lead over their closest competitors in the MainFix Production Cup, clinching the class win. Fellow Tasmanians Aidan Peterson and Mitch Newton secured third place in the Production Cup.

Reading and Young, after a steady performance on their home turf, secured back-to-back MainFix Production Cup titles, overtaking Molly Taylor and Andy Sarandis in the season points standings.

In the Junior Cup, Victorians Mitch Garrad and Taylah Murphy established a solid one-minute lead over their ARC Junior Cup rivals early on Sunday. With title contenders Jaidyn and Lucy Gluskie out of the running, the competition for second place fell to Molly Spalding and Matthew Dillon, who achieved runner-up honours for the weekend.

Garrad and Murphy emerged victorious, claiming the 2024 ARC Junior Cup title.

Within the Trenching Systems Australia 2WD Classic Cup, Jesse Robison and Troy Hutchins raced ahead to win stages SS11 and SS12; however, despite their strong performance, Jack Monkhouse and Neill Woolley’s considerable lead from Saturday allowed them to secure their 2024 Cup victory. Robison and Hutchins concluded the weekend as runners-up in the 2WD Classic Cup, with Tony Oates and Niamh Nairn rounding out the podium.

For the season, finishing fifth in the 2WD Classic Cup in Tasmania was enough for Peter Dimmock and Paul Bennett to clinch the title ahead of Dave Thompson and Matthew Sanders.

The sole entries in both the ARC 4WD Classic Cup and the Subaru WRX Challenge faced early retirements on Saturday but re-entered competition later in the day. Leading the Subaru WRX Challenge Cup, Glenn Brinkman and Scott Beckwith finished in 29th as the only WRX Challenge entry, securing the season title in the process.

As the season draws to a close, the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship prepares to kick off in 2025 with the Rally of Canberra, slated for March 21-23. The upcoming season promises six rounds hosted at familiar circuits.