The Kiwi pair in a Hyundai i20N Rally 2, finished 12.3 seconds ahead of Scott Pedder and Graeme Macneall aboard their Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2. Round 1 winners Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2) were 1:08.3 further away in third.

The first heat of the Forest Rally, the second round of the EROAD Australian Rally Championship, consisted of six stages through 102 competitive kilometres run out of  the Nannup Recreation Centre.

Conditions were very unlike the usual. Rain that preceded the event made for a mix of conditions with some parts slippery, and unlike the usual ball bearing roads normally encountered.

Paddon took the lead on SS3 and had a 4.0s advantage over Pedder. The latter hit back after the service break to win SS4 and led by 0.4s. But Paddon came home strong with victories in the last two stages of the day.

In Pedder’s 2024 Skoda Fabia R5, Sweden’s Tom Kristensson and Andreas Johansson finished the heat fourth overall. They won the first two stages and had a 3.7s lead over Paddon. But on the third stage, Kristensson overstepped into a ditch which caused a puncture.

They finished the stage eighth and dropped to fifth overall until the end of SS4, behind Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney (Hyundai). The local team had their own trouble with a SS5 crash that ruled them out.

Three-time and reigning ARC winners Harry Bates and Coral Taylor finished SS1 third, but they went to service to sort out a sensor issue in the Yaris. They were 16 minutes late for SS2 and penalised 1:20. From ninth they were the fastest in SS2 and worked their way forward to finish fifth.

Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly (Mitsubishi EVO 6) were inside the top 10 in all stages, had a lucky near miss with a kangaroo on the last stage and finished sixth. Next were Troy Dowel and Mitch Garrad (Yaris AP4) ahead of Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith (Yaris Rally 2), Nicholas Box and Caleb Ash (Nissan Silvia), and Dylan King and Lee Tierney (Yaris AP4).

In just his third rally, twice Dakar winner Toby Price with Holly Kilbride (Subaru Impreza WRX) were outside the top 20 in the first three stages before a couple of 16th places and an 11th in the last. The finished the heat 14th behind Glenn Alcorn/Jon Charlesson (Toyota AE86), Keith Hamilto/David Humphreys (WRX) and Frank and Lauren Kelly (Ford Escort).

The Forest Rally continues on Sunday with another six stages that will cover 82 competitive kilometres.