The RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) may not have been able to wrap up the season with the Kosciuszko Automotive Monaro Stages, however it hasn’t stopped a number of ARC crews from attending the postponed state event.
Originally scheduled to have taken place earlier this month, the event was ultimately cancelled due to heavy rainfall.
Despite being initially called off, New South Wales Forestry allowed the Light Car Club of Canberra to hold onto its permit for another week, giving them the opportunity to run the rally one week later.
The ARC component was unable to be postponed due to the logistics for all crews and ARC organisers.
This weekend? 44 crews will now contest the eight-stage rally where they complete more than 200 competitive kilometres across eight day and two night stages.
And with the new event comes a small ARC representation for the standalone event in Bombala.
Headlining the list are ARC reigning champions Harry Bates and John McCarthy – the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia stars to be joined by teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin for the rally.
The two Toyota GR Yaris cars have been a cut above the rest in 2021 and both Bates brothers would be looking to finish the year the way they started it with the Toyota one-two.
Had the event gone ahead last week, their biggest challenger would have come in the form of 2017 ARC champion Nathan Quinn and his co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith, however the duo has now swapped their powerful Mitsubishi Evo 10 for the classic 1970 Mazda RX2.
Because of his switch, Quinn may not be fighting out for the outright lead, however he will undoubtedly challenge for classic honours.
The highest seeded ARC driver behind the Bates brothers is now youngster Troy Dowel, who alongside Bernie Webb, has impressed many within the ARC community this year – the 21-year-old have sat in fourth place on the outright standings after May’s Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland.
Other ARC crews entered in the event include Andrew Penny, Peter Dimmock, Trevor Stilling, Chris Stilling and Bethany Cullen.
Click here to view the full entry list.
The Kosciuszko Automotive Monaro Stages takes place in Bombala on Saturday 11 December.
Photo: Bruce Moxon
