The 2024 Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania will decide a multitude of ARC titles, including the prestigious winners for the Possum Bourne Memorial Trophy – the year’s Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Champions.
With some 50 cars taking part in Tasmania in this endurance event, up to 110 points are up for grabs for the crew that can seal the event win and Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage bonus points. For our ARC Cups, 100 points are up for grabs amongst the class victors.
Points
As Rally Tasmania is classed as an endurance event, crews must finish the event to be awarded points. The top 20 cars will be awarded points for the ARC outright and Cup classifications as follows:
100, 80, 70, 62, 56, 52, 48, 44, 40, 36, 32, 28, 24, 20, 16, 12, 8, 6, 4, and 2.
Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage points will be allocated to the top five outright ARC finishers in the stage, regardless of their final event placing. These points do not impact final ARC Cup points.
10, 6, 4, 2, and 1.
For example, should a Production Cup car finish fifth outright and win the Power Stage, but are also first in their class – they will receive 56 points for fifth place and a further 10 for the Power Stage to take home 66 points in the outright ARC standings; and they will take the full 100 points for their Production Cup standings.
ARC Outright
The top four in the outright title fight are separated by just 108 points heading into Burnie, with defending champions Harry Bates and Coral Taylor leading the driver and co-driver championships respectively with 398 points.
Eager to make an impact on home soil, and potentially a championship upset, are Maguire Motorsport’s Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey. Yet to win an outright ARC event in their Skoda Fabia, the Tasmanians have been a measure of consistency throughout the year to feature on the podium at all but one round this year – a fifth at the season opener in Canberra their lowest result.
Maguire and Brakey are the nearest to the 2023 Champions with 323 points to their names, but are 75 points adrift in the title race. Bates and Taylor just need 35 points to clinch the title – with a tie in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia crew’s favour due to his three victories this year.
2022 Champions Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin also remain a mathematical chance for outright honours with 306 points – a 92-point deficit to the title lead. Their sights are potentially more focused towards the runner-up place in the championship, with just 17 points separating Lewis and Maguire crews.
2014 Champion Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall will be hoping for a miracle, or a disaster depending on your perspective, to clinch another crown a decade on. Pedder’s 290 points sees him 108 points adrift of Harry Bates, and would have to win both the event and Galvaniize Insurance Power Stage to win the title – should none of his fellow title rivals score points.
How the ARC can be won or lost
IF Harry Bates scores no points in Tasmania and finishes the year with 398 season points…
- Eddie Maguire would have to finish no worse than 3rd (70 points) and place no worse than 2nd (6 points) in the Power Stage to win the title by one point.
- Lewis Bates would have to win the event at a minimum (100 points) to win the title by 8 points.
IF Eddie Maguire wins both the rally and Power Stage (433 season points), Harry Bates would need to…
- Finish no worse than tenth, even with zero Power Stage points (36 points)
- Finish no worse than eleventh, but must be 3rd in the Power Stage (36 points)
- Harry would need just 35 points to win the title, and would win on any tie countback
- The above scenario would have Harry Bates & Coral Taylor still champions with 434 points.
IF Lewis Bates wins both the rally and Power Stage (416 season points), Harry Bates would need to…
- Finish no worse than 15th (16 points) and place 4th in the Power Stage (2 points) to win the title on countback in Harry’s favour.
IF Scott Pedder wins both the rally and Power Stage (400 season points), Harry Bates would need…
- Eddie Maguire and Lewis Bates to score zero points for the event
- As above, but Harry Bates would need to finish no worse than 20th outright (2 points)
- Or Harry Bates finish outside the top 20, and miraculously finish 4th in the Power Stage (2 points)
MainFix Production Cup
The MainFix Production Cup is also set for a thriller ending, despite 2016 ARC Champion Molly Taylor not entered for the season finale in Tasmania. Taylor currently leads the Production Cup title race with 290 points.
Crews must also have participated in a minimum of two rounds, with the best four round results to count – meaning that if a crew completes their fifth event in Tasmania, they must drop their lowest scoring result of the year.
Defending Production Cup winners Bodie Reading and Mark Young are only 44 points adrift of Taylor and co-driver Andy Sarandis with 246 points, and are eager to go back-to-back on home turf in Tasmania.
Reading will need to finish at least seventh in the Production Cup to collect the 48 points to usurp Taylor’s lead. The Subaru pilot has appeared on the MainFix Production Cup podium across all three rounds he and Young have entered, with victory at the recent Adelaide Hills Rally being the standout result.
IF Bodie Reading finishes seventh or higher in the Production Cup…
- Reading and Young are MainFix Production Cup winners
IF Bodie Reading fails to score, or is eighth and below in Production Cup, in Tasmania…
- Taylor and Sarandis are MainFix Production Cup winners
ARC Junior Cup
Victorians Mitch Garrad and Taylah Murphy will be eager to finish Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania to secure the Junior Cup honours, having already scored two victories this season to lead with 320 points.
Garrad and Murphy will need to drop their worst round, as Tasmania will be their fifth appearance of the season. The pair were runners up to their eventual Junior Cup rivals Jaidyn and Lucy Gluskie, who currently hold 230 season points.
The Gluskies have only completed three rounds this season, and therefore are not obliged to drop their worst round of the year. The siblings also are in great form after victory last time out at the Adelaide Hills Rally in the Junior Cup.
IF Mitch Garrad does not score points in Tasmania…
- Jaidyn Gluskie must win the Junior Cup (100 points) to claim the title
- Even if Molly Spalding wins Junior Cup, Jaidyn Gluskie finishes 2nd (80 points) – Gluskie would fall short as Garrad’s half-points result in Canberra would likely remain the result he would be forced to drop.
Meanwhile in the Junior Cup co-driver race, it’s important to acknowledge a mixture of results due to Junior co-drivers being cross-entered with senior drivers.
Garrad’s co-driver Taylah Murphy leads the charge with 315 season points after four rounds, 59 points ahead of her nearest rival Kelly Thomas – who appeared alongside her father Dave Thomas in the 2WD Cup this season. Murphy’s worst result is a 3rd place, and 35 points, in Canberra.
For Tasmania, Kelly will call the notes for fellow West Australian Robert Foley in a Production Cup-spec Toyota GR Yaris. Canberra was also her worst result with a 4th place finish, and 31 points. Kelly has also competed in four rounds this season, and will look to drop a round in Tasmania.
Lucy Gluskie is third in the co-driver race with 225 points, and is not obliged to drop a worst round after Tasmania.
Niamh Nairn is fourth with 197 season points, but a victory in Tasmania could vault her to potentially a runner-up spot with 297 points if her rivals fail to score points.
IF Taylah Murphy finishes 3rd in Tasmania…
- Murphy still wins the co-driver Junior Cup crown;
- or Thomas wins the rally, Thomas will still finish the year runner-up with 325 points;
- or Gluskie wins the rally, Gluskie will finish the year runner-up with 325 points;
- or Nairn wins the rally, Nairn will finish the year with 297 points
Trenching Systems Australia 2WD Classic Cup
A huge contingent of 2WD Classic cars will make the journey to Burnie, with nine cars entered in the 2WD Classic Cup – however there are only two who could win the season.
Peter Dimmock leads the season with 305 points, having already dropped the 40 points collected in Canberra.
Dave Thompson trails Dimmock by a mere 27 points, but is yet to win a round of the 2WD Classic Cup in 2024.
IF Peter Dimmock finishes sixth or higher in Tasmania…
- Dimmock wins the 2WD Classic Cup
IF Dave Thompson wins in Tasmania…
- and Dimmock finishes seventh, Thompson is the 2WD Classic Cup winner
Titles already decided
Dave and Kelly Thomas have already wrapped up the 2024 2WD Cup crown with a dominant 305 points at the conclusion of the fourth round of the year in Gippsland.
Glenn Brinkman and Scott Beckwith are also the inaugural winners of the 2024 Subaru WRX Challenge, with 170 points heading into Tasmania.
View the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania Entry List.
Spectators will the chance across the weekend to see Australia’s best crews and Championship-leaders with the Alpha Electrics & Water Oldina Rally Village, Burnie Rally Show, PWS Super Special Stage, and Pedders Rally Central. The Spectator Guide and tickets are now available.
Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania will wrap up the 2024 ARC season on the weekend of 22–24 November in the forests of Burnie.
