Reigning champions lead initial Canberra entries

Entries for the 2024 Rally of Canberra are off to a steady start with a decent field already entered for April’s Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) season opener.

Headlining the pool of entries so far are reigning ARC champions, Harry Bates and Coral Taylor, and their Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin.

Also getting in early has been 2014 ARC Champion Scott Pedder in his newly acquired Skoda Fabia R5, White Wolf Racing’s Tom Clarke for his return in the Ford Fiesta R5 and Peter Rullo, who is fresh from a FIA World Rally Championship debut last month and returning to his Hyundai i20 Rally2 car.

Another notable early entry is that of 2016 ARC champion Molly Taylor, who has confirmed she will contest multiple rounds of the season in the White Wolf Constructions ARC Production Cup, starting with Canberra.

Photos: Gears and Wheels Photography

Reigning Trenching Systems Australia ARC Classic 2WD Cup Champion David Thompson and young Tasmanian Jaidyn Gluskie are among the other drivers locked in for the season opener – the former of which will be making his ARC debut.

Rally of Canberra Clerk of Course, Adrian Dudok was impressed with the diverse entry list a long way out from the event.

“It’s been a steady streamline of competitors entered since we opened up entries with a good bag of familiar faces and new names locked in,” Dudok said.

“it’s great to see such a solid mix of cars entered in the round already, and while there aren’t as many entries as we were expecting yet, I have no doubt we will see the field get bigger over the next few weeks.

“There is still a good amount of time until entries close, so we believe that many crews are keeping their cards close to their chest and giving themselves as much time to prepare before committing to the event.”

Entries for Rally of Canberra are being completed via the Motorsport Australia Member Portal, with interested crews having until 11:59pm AEDT on Friday 22 March to enter.

Enter the 2024 Rally of Canberra.

The opening round of the 2024 Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, Rally of Canberra, takes place in and around the forests of Canberra on 5-7 April.