The second round of the EROAD Australian Rally Championship has arrived with the nation’s best crews in Busselton and Nannup ready to go for the highly anticipated Forest Rally.
Taking place over two busy days, crews will be tackling more than 180 competitive kilometres across 12 stages, with multiple spectator points to make it a weekend to remember.
With the famous ball bearing roads being the major factor in WA, rally.com.au looks at all the notable narratives to occur.
The Bosch Motorsport Ballot proving the decisive factor
Road order is extremely important in WA as the first few cars often act as a sweep for the cars behind due to the ball bearing roads. With rain also hitting the area in the last few days, dust might not be a factor throughout the weekend.
That makes the Bosch Motorsport Ballot more important than ever, as unlike most events, you want to avoid being the first car on the road. The new initiative in 2025 sees the top three seeded drivers draw their starting position from a box, which determines the order.
For Harry Bates, Scott Pedder and Lewis Bates, Friday night will mix up the order for the top three, and none of the drivers wants to be the number one on the road – especially with the amount of talent lining up behind them.
How will Hayden Paddon bounce back?
Hayden Paddon is undoubtedly the most decorated driver in the ARC field having won the FIA European Rally Championship on two occasions, and the Kiwi would have been fancying his chances of claiming the ARC title in his maiden season at the start of 2025.
After taking out Heat 1 in March’s Toyota Gazoo Racing Rally of Canberra, a crash with a kangaroo on the opening stage of Heat 2 curtailed his rally and forced him to retire early – leaving him a fair distance off the top of the standings.
Of course, Paddon is a champion of the sport and is likely to be up in the running again, especially since he starts fourth on the road in WA, so our bet is that he will bounce back strongly from Canberra.
His only concern will be how quickly he will get up to speed with the famous ball bearing surface of Nannup.
Battle of the nations
Similarly to Paddon, Swedish star Tom Kristensson is a driver with a wealth of experience and a multiple-time champion around the world, so expect him to be fast right from the get go.
Just like the New Zealander though, he will be running on a surface that he has never faced before, which will instantly put him a little bit behind the rest of the contenders. Throw in the fact that he’s in a new car with a new team and has only been in Australia for three days, the Swede is in for a massive challenge.
With that said, rallying in unfamiliar territory is nothing new for Kristensson, so if he’s had a good testing period and if he can get a hold of the roads in the first few stages, it won’t be a surprise to see him on the podium on Sunday.
The time is now for Alex Rullo
Alex is fast and now has a number of years behind him since switching tarmac for gravel. He has a number of outright podiums to his name and has been on the rise for a while now.
Leading the local WA charge, Rullo should know these roads better than anyone else in the field so he has that advantage. Being a bit further back in the road should also assist him with getting some good times.
What is key for him though is to try and get those fast times early, so he can build on it throughout the weekend. The talented driver is due for an outright victory, and this weekend could very well be that time.
Locals step up to the plate
Rullo won’t be the only local in with a shot for something special this weekend – Both Craig Rando and Dylan King will be ones to look out for and could offer a surprise result.
Rando has long been a top contender at state level, but has mostly always run within a Production car. Having recently switched to a Toyota Yaris AP4, he is in a top spec car and could secure some top five times – although having flipped the car a few weeks ago, he may err on the side of caution.
King on the other hand is a late entry and always provides a challenge. Expected to only compete in WA this year – we have every suspicion he might cause headaches for some of the interstaters and internationals.
Can anyone beat Clayton Hoy in the WOLF Production Cup
Making his first appearance in the ARC this year, Clayton Hoy has always been a driver that can squeeze his way into the top 10, no matter the car.
While getting a good outright result has always been a priority for Hoy, his eyes will be firmly on the Wolf Production Cup this weekend where he is the favourite by a long shot.
Hoy will be up against a cohort of talented hometown heroes in the class, and the drivers most likely to offer a serious challenge to the Queenslander will come from the likes of Thomas Loughton, Timothy Hiles and Frank O’Shea. However, if Hoy keeps it clean throughout the whole rally, the only question will be how long they can offer a challenge.
Welcome to the ARC, Toby Price
Quite possibly one of the biggest names in Australian motorsport, Toby Price is a driver that manages to secure silverware wherever he goes.
Making his ARC debut this weekend in the Subaru WRX Challenge, the Queenslander is likely to be a front runner in the special class – as long as he keeps it clean and on the road.
Price will be up against veterans Glenn Brinkman and Andy van Kann in the class so he will be behind on that front, but completed a successful test yesterday, meaning the Subaru WRX Challenge will come down to a battle of experience v overall motorsport talent – we just don’t know which side to pick!
