Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin returned to the top step of the EROAD Australian Rally Championship (ARC) podium, claiming a hard-fought victory at Subaru Wilderness Rally Tasmania.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia pairing secured their first ARC round win since Rally of Canberra last year, holding off Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall by 13 seconds after 15 stages of intense competition around Burnie.

“It feels very nice (to win) to be honest. Both Anthony and I are super stoked with this victory,” Lewis said.

“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.

“We had some amazing battles all weekend with Harry (Bates)/Coral (Taylor) and Scott (Pedder)/Glenn (Macneall) and it was cool with the three of us fighting it out all weekend.”

Bates and McLoughlin entered the final rally day with just a one-second advantage over Pedder and Macneall, following a dramatic opening day that saw championship leaders Harry Bates and Coral Taylor forced to retire after a crash on the final stage.

“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,” Lewis said.

“It was also nice to secure another Power Stage – we had to pull our finger out in the last two stages of the weekend because Scott and Glenn were coming in fast, but we managed to get the win, so it’s nice to get maximum points this weekend.”

The 2022 ARC Champions immediately stamped their authority on Sunday, winning the first four stages to stretch their advantage to almost 16 seconds.

Pedder and Macneall responded with two stage wins of their own to close the gap to nine seconds, setting up a tense finish.

Bates responded on the penultimate stage with another stage victory, before securing the win with his sixth Power Stage victory of the season.

The result also marked a breakthrough for Jackson Long, who claimed his first outright ARC podium in third place alongside father Damien Long.

The result was particularly significant for Damien, who returned to the ARC podium for the first time since Rally Queensland in 1998.

Bodie Reading and Brad Jones were fourth outright and comfortably secured WOLF SPORTS Cup honours in their Les Walkden Rallying entry.

The pair were consistent throughout the weekend and finished more than three minutes ahead of Toby Price and Ben Searcy.

Price and Searcy continued their impressive Subaru WRX Challenge campaign, finishing fifth outright and claiming their third consecutive class victory.

Despite losing time with a flat tyre on the opening stage, the pair recovered strongly to finish ahead of Riley Walters and Andrew Crowley.

Walters still enjoyed a standout weekend, winning the ARC Junior Cup after clean-sweeping every stage of the event.

Jeff David and Grant Geelan were seventh outright, while Darren and Michelle Crozier recorded their first top-10 finish of the season in eighth. Nathan Stokes and Ian Wheeler followed in ninth, securing their second consecutive top-10 result.

Rounding out the top 10 were Shane and Sylvie Garner, who claimed ARC Classic Cup honours in their Subaru WRX STI.

“Being on top (of the standings) with two rounds to go is a nice position to be in,” Lewis added.

“It’s rallying, so anything can happen, but I’m just super stoked we finally put a whole weekend together. Hopefully, we can carry that into the next one.”

The ARC now heads into its final stages of the 2026 season, with the penultimate round, the Adelaide Hills Rally, scheduled for 2-4 October.

For full results and the current championship standings, visit the Subaru Results Hub at rally.com.au