The Toyota GR Yaris Rally 2 that will be campaigned by the local Bates team in the Rally of Canberra later this month. Photo: Australian Rally Championship.
As if Canberra’s rally stages weren’t close enough to the city, 2025’s Rally of Canberra is bringing the action even closer.
Before they take to the dusty fire trails of Kowen Forest and the Cotter Reserve in anger later this month, the cars and their drivers will be parking on Bunda Street in Civic from 5 pm to 6:30 pm on Friday, 21 March, for a show and tell for the public.
“It’s a really good opportunity for all Canberrans to chat with us before we start the rally and to get up close and personal with the cars too,” Canberra’s own home-brewed rally driver Harry Bates says.
“The cars are just going to be parked there on the street, and you’ll be able to walk around them and get a really good close-up look at them.”
The Rally of Canberra, known for several years as the National Capital Rally, forms one of six rounds in the annual Australian Rally Championship (ARC).
For 2025, it’s the opener for the season that ultimately ends in November with the Rally of Tasmania.
Harry Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor in the wilds of Tasmania on their way to victory in the 2024 ARC. Photo: Peter Norton.
Between 30 and 40 cars are expected to compete, and they’ll be all sorts – from Harry’s one-year-old top-spec Toyota GR Yaris to “someone’s classic 1978 Datsun 100”.
Harry has held his head high since he first took part on his own in 2015, beating his brother Lewis by a nail-biting 1.8 seconds in the very last stage of 2023, and then finishing first alongside co-driver Coral Taylor in 2024.
“As a Canberra boy, I’ve always been really passionate about my home region,” he says.
“My record here is pretty amazing and I’d love to try to keep that.”
Coral Taylor and Harry Bates, winners of the 2023 and 2024 Australian Rally Championship. Photo: Rally of Canberra.
A win in 2025 would be his seventh championship title, but even he’s feeling the pressure this time around for a couple of reasons.
His team, Toyota Gazoo Racing, is the name sponsor for this year’s event, which “certainly puts the pressure on a bit”.
Another difference is there’s a “lot more competition” this year. Kiwi rally driver Hayden Paddon and Scott Pedder are on the cards to compete, both formidable forces.
Paddon, for one, is an ex-World Rally Championship driver, with other wins in Rally Argentina and the European Rally Championship to his name.
“We’re certainly not going to have it our own way,” Harry says.
He says the growing number of what are dubbed ‘Rally 2’ spec cars have turned up the heat too.
“These are built and developed by the manufacturer purely as rally cars, so there’s a lot of competition from the manufacturers as well as the drivers, like Toyota, Ford, Skoda, Hyundai.
“They’re very capable on the stages and they look amazing for the fans as well.”
Canberra has long held a reputation as “Australia’s home of rallying”, and Harry doesn’t see this going away anytime soon.
“It’s always been huge here. One of the amazing benefits we have in Canberra for rallying is just how close the forests are to the city … It’s so accessible to go out and see this event because the stages are probably only 20 to 30 minutes from your home.”
The Rally of Canberra will be held from 21 to 23 March. Visit the website for spectator information and to register for a ticket (tickets are free).
The Friday show will be held on Bunda Street from 5 pm to 6:30 pm, on 21 March.
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