The 2025 Forest Rally has seen an enthralling battle take place on a busy Saturday as Hayden Paddon and John Kennard claimed Heat 1 bragging rights over Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall at the completion of six stages and a mix of weather conditions.
With more than 35 crews entered in the second round of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship, it was Paddon and Kennard who managed to overcome a day of multiple lead changes and dramatic moments to secure a remarkably close Heat victory of 12 seconds.
Rounding out the top three for the day was Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin after the pair flew under the radar for much of the day, while Swedish star Tom Kristensson and Andreas Johansson finished fourth overall in their first ever Australian rally.
Turning heads early on, Kristensson made a statement early having won the opening stage of the day – taking out SS1 over Paddon and Kennard by less than one second, while Harry Bates and Coral Taylor finished the stage in third.
The first major drama of the day occurred in between the first and second stages as a sensor issue to Harry’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia GR Yaris Rally 2 caused the reigning champion to check into SS2 more than 10 minutes late, before being handed a one-minute and 20-second penalty.
That penalty essentially ruined his chances of scoring the Heat victory, but the multiple-time winner of the Western Australian event bounced back on stage two – topping the time sheets over Kristensson by one second.
Although Paddon finished the stage four seconds off Harry and in second place on the standings behind Kristensson, the two-time European Rally Champion didn’t have to wait long to go to the top of the standings as he claimed the Stage three win.
Meanwhile, a puncture on the same stage to Kristensson saw the Swede drop down the standings after losing crucial minutes as a result.
Straight after the midday service, Pedder managed to wrestle his way into the overall lead, beating Paddon by five seconds to move half a second ahead, however Paddon responded with wins on the final two stages to ultimately take out the Heat.
Gallant efforts from both Kristensson and Harry Bates saw the pair eventually round out the top five behind Lewis after local boy Alex Rullo and Steve Glenney crashed out during the day’s penultimate stage.
Finishing the day in sixth overall thanks to a highly consistent performance was Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly – the pair steering their Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6 to top honours in the WOLF Production Cup.
Remarkably, they weren’t the only class winners to finish in the top 10 overall after ARC 2WD Classic Cup Heat 1 Winners Nick Box and Caleb Ash finished ninth for the day.
Splitting the two Cup winners in outright seventh and eighth respectively was the returning Troy Dowel and Mitch Garrard, and WA guns Craig Rando and Scott Beckwith, both of whom were in their first ARC round behind the wheel of the same model.
Rounding out the top 10 for the day after a brilliant recovery drive was ARC 2WD Classic Cup runner-up finishers Glenn Alcorn and Jonathan Charlesson in their Toyota AE86.
Just missing out on a top 10 finish by less than a minute was the highly popular Irish duo of Frank and Lauren Kelly – the father-daughter team in their famous Ford Escort MkII finished a respectable 12th place.
Another ARC debutant to enjoy a memorable day was Australian superstar Toby Price and Holli Kilbride after the pair finished the Heat’s six stages in 12th overall and top in the Subaru WRX Challenge class.
In other classes, it was Timothy Hiles and Noah Humble who took out the ARC 4WD Classic Cup, Gary Mills and Shaun McMacken claimed the ARC 2WD Cup and teenager Jackson Long finished all six stages to get maximum points in the ARC Junior Cup.
The Forest Rally continues tomorrow with a further six stages making up Heat 2 from 9:22am AWST, as the times are reset and crews start from scratch in search of another 50 championship points.
Fans can tune in to multiple live stages from around the world via the ARC YouTube and Facebook stages, with Stage 8 and Stage 12 to be live streamed at 10:08am and 2:47pm AWST.
