The 2025 Quality Accounting Coffs Coast Rally delivered a thrilling finale to the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, with Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith taking a hard-fought outright victory on the weekend, but the year would belong to Tony Sullens and Kaylee Newell securing the Championship.
The Redhead Motorsport crew’s weekend didn’t start smoothly. In Heat 1, their Hyundai i20 G4 suffered engine issues that forced the team to turn off the anti-lag system. The pair battled through, keeping their championship hopes alive with steady pace before unleashing their full potential later in the day when the issue was addressed.
Redhead and Winwood-Smith charged back to win both Heat 2 and Heat 3, securing the outright rally win and finishing over a minute ahead of Brad Hardaker and Pete Hellwig in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.
Ian Menzies and Robert McGowan in the Toyota Yaris AP4 completed the podium in third place, securing them the Queensland Rally Championship victory in the process.
At the final control after the night stage, Redhead was thrilled to end the season on a high.
“It was great to take the win,” Redhead said.
“It was so challenging, that’s for sure. There wasn’t much grip in there to start with, but we’re really happy to take the win.”
“Props to Tony”, he continued.
“He’s put up a good fight and has probably won the series. It was a bit of a long shot for us to win, but we tried our hardest.”
For Sullens and Newell, it was a tense day where every point mattered.
The Citroën DS3 team needed a strong finish to secure the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, but early in the event they were held back by a limp-mode fault that restricted engine performance.
Once the issue was resolved, they found their pace again on the night stage, doing enough to seal the Championship. Other standout performances came from Mal Keough and Pip Bennett, bringing their iconic Audi Quattro home fourth outright.
From a NSW Rally Championship perspective, Redhead and Winwood-Smith secured second overall, meanwhile Jody Mill seals third after finishing every heat in 2025.
It was one of the closest championships in years, with just twelve points separating the top three drivers. Nathan Quinn, who suffered a puncture in Heat 1 at Coffs, might well have changed the entire shape of the championship had luck been on his side.
The 2025 Quality Accounting Coffs Coast Rally was organised by the Coffs Harbour and District Sporting Car Club and proudly supported by Quality Accounting, with thanks to series partners Shamrock Haulage and MRF Tyres.
