Australian / New Zealand 2025 Championships

ARC - Australian Rally Championship calendar:
Round 1 – March 21-23 – Rally of Canberra
Round 2 – May 23-25 – Forest Rally
Round 3 – July 4-6 – Rally Queensland
Round 4 – August 10-8 – Gippsland Rally
Round 5 – October 3-5 – Adelaide Hills Rally
Round 6 – November 7-9 – Rally Tasmania

NZRC - New Zealand Rally Championship Calendar:
Rd 1: Otago Rally April 4-6
Rd 2: South Canterbury Rally May 10
Rd 3: Canterbury Rally June 1
Rd 4: Rally Coromandel August 23
Rd 5: Rally Bay of Plenty October 11
Rd 6: International Rally of Whangarei November 7-9


the Australian Championship is under new management and it was rebranded as "ARC".
- here the little video they released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMFtMk7qJ_o

both championships offer some live stages, live interviews and decent highlights on their youtube pages! you can watch the '24 rounds during december while we wait for Monte Carlo! hehe

- ARC: https://www.youtube.com/@arcrally/videos
- NZRC: https://www.youtube.com/@NewZealandR...ionship/videos

The 2025 NZRC starts with the Otago Rally & combined Classic rally over two days. Following the pattern of 2024 with 3 South Island events, with a break and then three North Island rallies. Southland is replaced by Canterbury which can be frosty in June. Likewise the Day Breaker rally, Manawatu has been replaced by Rally Coromandel.(I'm sure some competitors prefer Day Breaker to Coromandel, but there might be less sheep on the road further north) The season ends the same way as 2024 with Bay Of Plenty followed by Whangarei.

2025 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship Calendar:

Rd 1: Otago Rally April 4-6
Rd 2: South Canterbury Rally May 10
Rd 3: Canterbury Rally June 1
Rd 4: Rally Coromandel August 23
Rd 5: Rally Bay of Plenty October 11
Rd 6: International Rally of Whangarei November 7-9

https://nzrallychamps.co.nz/calendar...turning-rounds

from dirtfish: https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/paddo...t-as-a-driver/

(...) "With two ERC titles from the past two seasons, Paddon has his sights set on a new challenge in 2025: the Australian Rally Championship.

“That’s what we’re targeting, yeah,” he confirmed to DirtFish, “but it’s just a matter of trying to get the finances in place at the moment, which is not so easy in the current time. So, yeah, probably a little bit more focus on this side of the world.” (...)

interesting!

One of the OG Pirelli Star rally driver group has passed away. Mark Tapper (NZ) is reported to have died.

Tapper grew up near Mad Mike Whidett (drifter and sometimes circuit racer and exhibitionist).

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/...er-mark-tapper

oh mate. way too young! thats really sad. RIP

Rally of Canberra this weekend (March 21st to 23rd) Hayden Paddon taking on the Australians in their backyard. Canberra is home turf for the Bates Toyota Team with over 30 years of experience on the roads around Canberra.

Bosch to sponsor 2025 ARC

https://www.rally.com.au/bosch-backs...r-2025-season/
Canberra Rally Saturday 22nd March, Heat 1, 109 km of gravel stages
Harry Bates took right rear wheel off 2km from end of Stage 2. (30 mins in the video, limps to stage finish)

After the 4 morning stages Paddon (with a new lightweight haircut) 11 seconds on Lewis Bates (2nd), Scott Pedder 45 seconds down, but has been fast in the improved Skoda Fabia RS Rally 2 (used R5 Skoda previously)

4 afternoon stages to follow.

Paddon eased through the afternoon stages (repeats of the morning stages) in warm conditions to win Heat 1. Paddon said the swept roads were better.

Paddon 1hr 12 minutes 46 seconds,2nd, Lewis Bates 29.7 seconds from a consistent run, car tweaked improvements for the afternoon. 3rd was Scott Pedder 1 min 27.5, slowed a bit by a rear shock absorber issue.

Heat 2 Sunday 23 March
First stage of the day. Stage 9. Paddon retired after hitting animal.
Stage 9 won by Harry Bates.
Heat 2) 1 Harry Bates 2 Lewis Bates 3 Scott Pedder

Rally of Canberra overall 1. Lewis Bates (wins his first home rally, also hit a Kangaroo like Paddon but with less damage) 2. Scott Pedder

https://www.youtube.com/@arcrally/streams

for the curious fans trying to follow Hayden, the livestreams are here!
its a national championship so dont expect rallyTV coverage levels, eh
highlights of the full event will probably be avaliable during the week! we'll be posting here, if anyone is interested

some of the Otago stages were live on the YT channel
https://www.youtube.com/@NewZealandR...onship/streams

No full highlights from any of the races from Aussie and NZ championships so far. I hope the new australian promoter doesnt cut off the highlights they used to have

NZ championship - Rd.1 Otago - almost 1 hour Highlights is out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyApModI_U4
on the channel you can find more individual stuff, like the "4wd highlights" only: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANlzcUO8Gm8
or the 2wd, historic, etc...