Lewis Bates Wins Rally Tasmania as Brother Crashes Out

Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since the 2025 season opener in Canberra, a result that vaulted them to the top of the standings after their teammates Harry Bates and Coral Taylor crashed out on Saturday.

In the first endurance round of the season, Lewis Bates and McLoughlin took victory by 13 seconds after a hard-fought battle with Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall in their Skoda Fabia Rally2.

“It feels very nice to win, to be honest. Both Anthony and I are super stoked with this victory. It’s been a long time coming. Finally putting a whole weekend together where we were consistent from the first stage to the last stage, so we’re very happy with this one,” said Lewis Bates. “We had some amazing battles all weekend with Harry and Coral, and Scott and Glenn, and it was cool with the three of us fighting it out all weekend. Obviously, sorry to Harry and Coral. It’s not nice to see someone go out like that, but their pace was superb before they had their incident.”

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Lewis and McLoughlin entered Sunday’s action with just a one-second lead over Pedder and Macneall. A dramatic opening day saw Harry and Taylor crash out during the final stage, dropping them from the championship lead with just two rounds remaining.

The pair extended their lead to over 16 seconds after four consecutive stage wins on Sunday, but Pedder and Macneall reduced the margin to just nine seconds with two stages remaining. Wins in the final two stages, including a sixth Power Stage win, propelled Lewis and McLoughlin to a 13-second margin of victory.

The result gave Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia maximum points and lifted Lewis Bates to the top of the standings. “Being on top with two rounds to go is a nice position to be in. It’s rallying, so anything can happen, but I’m just super stoked we finally put a whole weekend together,” he added.

Rounding out the podium was the second Pedders entry of Jackson Long and his father Damien, with Jackson earning his first outright podium appearance and Damien his first ARC podium in almost 30 years. Bodie Reading and Brad Jones finished fourth, three minutes ahead of Toby Price and Ben Searcy, who claimed another Subaru WRX class win.

The EROAD Australian Rally Championship returns for the penultimate round on October 2-4 with the Adelaide Hills Rally.