Next Round To Head For The Hills With Gippsland Rally In Victoria On 22-24 August

July 9, 2025

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia (TGRA) returned to Gympie over the weekend for the third round of the 2025 Australian Rally Championship with Rally Queensland proving every bit as dramatic this year as it was last year, as the ARC celebrated its 350th round.

It was a battle royale as the top four contenders, including reigning champions Harry Bates and Coral Taylor, and TGRA teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, driving the GR Yaris Rally 2 cars gave it their all in the dry but slippery conditions.

Harry and Coral demonstrated their consistency in Heat 1 on the Saturday finishing the day with an overall lead of three seconds after eight stages while Lewis and Anthony made an astonishing comeback after a soft rollover on Stage 3.

After sitting out Stage 4, Lewis and Anthony were back out for Stage 5, hitting top five times for every stage of the afternoon and finishing the day in tenth place.

On Sunday, the TGRA team’s fortunes flipped with Lewis and Anthony charging hard behind championship leaders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard with a top three finish on every stage and a win in the Power Stage giving the pair a podium finish with second place in Sunday’s Heat 2.

The superb performance of Lewis and Anthony on the Sunday saw them claw back ground and finish the weekend in overall fourth place, picking up valuable championship points.

Luck was not with Harry and Coral however on the Sunday, and after sustaining a puncture on the second stage of the day and limping home, an incident on the fourth stage resulted in a bent rear arm and the pair’s retirement from the rally.

After a dramatic weekend of rally action, the ARC heads for the hills with the next Gippsland Rally round on 22-24 August sure to provide plenty of excitement.

 

RALLY QUEENSLAND RESULTS:

HEAT 1:
1ST: Harry Bates
10th: Lewis Bates

HEAT 2:

2nd: Lewis Bates
DNF: Harry Bates

OVERALL:

4th: Lewis Bates
7th: Harry Bates

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: To be confirmed.

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