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After mechanical dramas with their Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 and time penalties, they worked their way to fourth in Heat 1, then headed the second heat and won the event outright.
The reigning champions took Heat 2 by 30s over Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin (GR Yaris AP4), while Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney (Hyundai i20) were third in the heat over Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey (Skoda Fabia).
“Massive thank you to Neal Bates Motorsport for their efforts, they had a fair few issues thrown at them this weekend from my mistakes, and they worked and worked at it to make sure we had a good car,” said Harry Bates.
Maguire and Brakey scored enough points to secure an overall second, while Rullo and Glenney finished on equal points with Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall (Skoda), but the final place on the podium after the total time countback.
It was a disappointing end Pedder/Macneall, who took out the first two stages. Their car had a broken cylinder, limped home on the stage and lost significant time. They still finished the rally, in ninth overall.
Their dramas elevated Bates/Talyor to the lead, as the Toyota duo won the stage and finished second in the day’s remaining two stages to seal the victory.
The battle for Heat 2 second went right down to the wire as just 6s separated Bates/McLoughlin, Maguire/Brakey and Rullo/Glenney who won the penultimate stage.
Bates and McLoughlin won the Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage to seal second in Heat 2 and fifth overall, while Rullo/Glenney held onto third to secure a consecutive ARC podium.
Molly Taylor and Andy Sarandis (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) received a late penalty on the final stage of Heat 1 to lose out to Mainfix ARC Production Cup rivals Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith (Subaru GD STi). In Heat 2 Taylor and Sarandis finished 2mins ahead of Josh Wiedman and Nick Reid (WRX) while Rando/Beckwith had a troubled day.
David and Kelly Thomas (Subaru BRZ) completed a clean sweep in ARC 2WD Cup stages for the round overall. Tony Oates and Niamh Nairn (Honda Civic) were victorious in the Trenching Systems Australia 2WD Classic Cup with a 15s victory over Peter Dimmock and Paul Bennett (Datsun 260Z).
The Australia Rally Championship continues with the Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland at Gympie on June 28-30.
