Following a thrilling Forest Rally in May, Rally Queensland will welcome back many of the stars in the regional town of Gympie, as well as a number of familiar names to the ARC community for the first time this year.
Headlining the field will be the four crews well and truly established as the leading contenders for the 2025 title, with current championship leaders Hayden Paddon and John Kennard looking to build on their victory in Western Australia.
The pair will have the two Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia crews of Lewis Bates/Anthony McLoughlin and Harry Bates/Coral Taylor as their major challengers, as well as Pedders Suspension and Brakes’ Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall who won in Queensland last year.
View the full entry list here.
With Paddon and Kennard, and dual IntelliSpatial Fleetcare Racing entries of Alex Rullo/Steve Glenney and Peter Rullo/Ben Searcy representing Hyundai, there will be one genuine event contender flying the Ford flag in Queensland – two-time Irish Champion Patrick O’Brien is set to run a 2022 Ford Fiesta with West Aussie Shane Farrell calling the notes. The pair were originally entered for the Forest Rally but had to withdraw just before the event.
Notable names making their return after making their first appearances for the year in Western Australia will be outright drivers Troy Dowel and Mitch Garrad, Aussie superstar Toby Price and Holly Kilbride in the Subaru WRX Challenge, and WOLF Production Cup winners Clayton Hoy and Erin Kelly.
The WOLF Production Cup welcomes plenty of star power to Queensland, with one of the biggest entries for the round being that of Bodie Reading – the 2024 Cup champion attending his first event for the year alongside a new co-driver with Brad Jones in the LWR 1999 Impreza WRX.
Another first-timer for the year will be Nathan Stokes and Ian Wheeler who are behind the wheel of their 2012 Impreza WRX, while Josh Wiedman is back after a victory in Canberra with new co-driver Ryan Preston.
Like Wiedman, young guns Jaidyn and Lucy Gluskie return in their first event since the season opener as they look to dethrone Jackson Long from the ARC Junior Cup lead.
It’s a two way battle in the 2WD Classic Cup, which welcomes the return of Tony Oates and Anthony Staltari in the 1993 Honda Civic CRC and Zach Hegde in the 1970 Porsche 911 alongside Caleb Ash.
In the 4WD Classic Cup, the ever-experienced Mike Bailey makes his long-awaited return with Ian Whitehead in a battle set up with current leaders Shane and Sylvie Garner, and the returning Molly Spalding and Matt Dillon while Glenn Brinkman and Scott Beckwith round out the Subaru WRX Challenge field.
Get more information on the Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland.
Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland Clerk of the Course Brian Everitt
“It’s very exciting to have the EROAD Australian Rally Championship back in Queensland and we have a really strong, quality field with two international drivers and a total of nine top spec cars,” Everitt said.
“It’s also fantastic to see a number of familiar names within the Australian rally community making their return to the ARC this weekend, while having Toby Price going around again after a memorable debut is positive on all fronts.
“We’re in for a brilliant event this year and the whole Brisbane Sporting Car Club is hosting the ARC again and looking forward to the best rally drivers in the country putting on a show for the locals.”
The Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland serves as the third round of the 2025 EROAD Australian Rally Championship and takes place in Gympie on 4–6 July.
