Hayden Paddon and John Kennard have taken another significant step towards winning the EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) title, after a dominant weekend at the Copyworld Adelaide Hills Rally, winning both heats on Saturday and Sunday, as well as gaining 100 points heading into Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania, the final of the ARC for 2025.
The Championship leaders, Paddon and Kennard won four consecutive stages on the second day of action, capping off a strong weekend ahead of Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, who needed to finish second overall for the weekend to continue the 2025 title fight into the season finale next month.
Lewis and McLoughlin capped off a strong Sunday afternoon with a Power Stage victory as well, giving them important bonus points in the title race.
Harry Bates and Coral Taylor’s championship tilt suffered a major blow, after Bates crashed during stage 7, putting them out for the rest of Saturday. The pair finished Heat 2 in fourth on Sunday.
While Paddon and Kennard comfortably sealed the victory on Sunday to earn the weekend sweep, the leading Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Yaris endured a challenging Heat 2 battle with the IntelliSpatial Fleet Racing Hyundai i20N of Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney, with their day-long battle eventually decided by just 15 seconds.
Rullo and Glenney finished third overall across both days trailing the pacesetters by a minute and a half.
Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly edged closer to the WOLF Production Cup title after a convincing performance in their Mitsubishi Evo 6, finishing fourth overall in Heat 1 and fifth overall in Heat 2, placing them fourth outright for the entire rally and acquiring 59 championship points in the process.
While Paddon was happy to win the 100 points for the weekend, he indicated a championship win was not guaranteed, with Bates and McLoughlin still within striking distance.
“Being 85 points in front isn’t really a position you like to be in,” Paddon added.
“I’d have preferred to either be closer or have the title wrapped up, because then you can go to Tassie and just push. But now, being in this position, we have to finish seventh or better.
“You’ll probably hear every little rattle and bang in the car all weekend. It makes it a lot more stressful than it probably should be.”
Bodie Reading and Brad Jones rounded out the top five for the weekend after finishing Heat 1 in fifth and seventh in Heat 2 – adding 52 championship points to their season total.
If Paddon and Kennard, who sit on 470 points for the year, can win next month’s Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania, it would mark five-straight wins to close out the season.
It would also mark the end of a dominant run of championship wins for the Bates family, with Harry (3) and Lewis (1) winning the past four ARC championships dating back to 2019.
Lewis Bates and McLoughlin sit on 385 points, while Harry Bates and Coral Taylor boast 321 points for the year as both crews aim to finish the year on the final podium.
Just one round remains in the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship with the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania to take place in Burnie on 7–9 November.
