The Australian Rally Championship, also commonly known as the ARC, is Australia's premier gravel rally competition. A multi-event national championship has been held each year since 1968, excepting 2020.
Competition
The Australian Rally Championship (ARC) is typically contested over six rounds held across various regions of Australia.
Championship titles and ARC Cups In addition to the outright Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ titles, the ARC features several sub-championships—known collectively as ARC Cups—which include the Production Cup, 2WD Cup, Junior Cup, and Classic Cup.
Event formats The championship includes a mixture of endurance and sprint formats: Endurance events span multiple days, with championship points awarded based on the overall rally results. Sprint events are structured into separate heats, typically held across two days, with points allocated at the conclusion of each heat.
Scoring and points allocation According to the official ARC Sporting & Technical Regulations: Sprint events allocate points per heat in descending order from 50 for first place to 1 for twentieth, applicable across outright and cup classifications. Endurance events award points at the rally conclusion, with 100 points for first place, down to 2 points for twentieth. To resolve ties in the Outright Championship, higher overall event placings are considered; for ARC Cups, the higher outright placing is used as the tie-breaker.
Power Stage Each rally incorporates a Power Stage—a final special stage offering bonus points to the fastest crews. The current system awards 10 points to the fastest crew, 6 to second, then 4, 2, and 1 point respectively down to fifth place. For example, at the 2024 season finale in Tasmania, the Power Stage offered 10 bonus points on top of the 100 points awarded for the endurance event winner.
Events Six rounds comprised the 2024 Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship
• Rally of Canberra: 5–7 April
• Forest Rally: 17–19 May
• Rally Queensland: 28–30 June
• Gippsland Rally: 9–11 August
• Adelaide Hills Rally: 13–15 September
• Rally Launceston: 22–24 November
Competition classes
The Australia Rally Championship caters to a range of different competitors in the series and with a number of classes and categories; competitors can start rallying at the level that best suits their budget. The outright competition is fought out amongst the names of rallying and is the ultimate test for the competitors at the pointy end of the field. The ARC's top drivers compete in Group N (Production) - cars which have direct links to their road-going counterparts. The ARC also offers opportunities for manufacturers who don't produce Group N cars to build comparable machinery under both the Group N (P) and FIA Super 2000 regulations. Another award that is desirable for competitors to chase is the Privateers Cup for competitors who don't have support from the manufacturer teams. The F16 Championship is the small car category (1600cc, 2WD) and a budget-level place to start rallying. The outright winner of the Championship is an Australian Champion in the small car category and is added to the record books. The Aussie Cup is the Australian award for large cars (over 2500cc) that enables competitors in the big cars to run popular passenger car models such as V6 and V8's. Amongst the outright awards are the opportunities to chase individual class awards that are based on car capacity and specification which gives competitors the opportunity to pursue class victories.
Cars The more successful cars in recent years of the ARC have been the 4WD 2.0L Turbo models such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, Subaru Impreza WRX STIs and the Toyota Corolla ARC-spec cars, which are actually running Toyota Celica GT-Four engines, 4WD system, etc.. Michael Guest and Mark Stacey campaigned a RWD 2.5L normally aspirated Ford Focus during the 2006 season, switching to a Ford Fiesta prepared for the Super 2000 class in 2007. Most of the cars in the privateer fields are of a similar make, but other makes with success have been the Mitsubishi Mirage, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, Subaru Legacy, Datsun 1600, Datsun 240Z, Nissan Stanza and the Suzuki Swift GTi.
Drivers As with the cars, it tends to be the factory-entered drivers that take the outright placings. Some of these drivers have been Colin Bond, Greg Carr. George Fury, Ross Dunkerton, Geoff Portman, Scott Pedder, Simon Evans, Neal Bates, the late Possum Bourne and Ed Ordynski. Privateer crews that have enjoyed recent success include Nathan Quinn and Steve Glenney. In 2015 Molly Taylor became the first woman to win a heat in the Australian Rally Championship.
Winners
Australian Rally Champions Year Driver Co-driver Vehicle 1968 Harry Firth Graham Hoinville Ford Cortina Lotus 1969 Frank Kilfoyle Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina Lotus 1970 Robert Watson Jim McAuliffe Renault R8 Gordini 1971 Colin Bond George Shepheard Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1 1972 Colin Bond George Shepheard Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 1973 Peter Lang Warwick Smith Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 1974 Colin Bond George Shepheard Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 1975 Ross Dunkerton John Large Datsun 240Z 1976 Ross Dunkerton Jeff Beaumont Datsun 260Z 1977 Ross Dunkerton George Fury Jeff Beaumont Monty Suffern Datsun 260Z Datsun 710 1978 Greg Carr John Dawson-Damer* Ford Escort RS 1979 Ross Dunkerton Jeff Beaumont Datsun Stanza 1980 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza 1981 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza 1982 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 1983 Ross Dunkerton Geoff Jones Datsun 1600 1984 David Officer Kate Officer Mitsubishi Galant GB 1985 Barry Lowe Kevin Pedder Subaru RX Turbo 1986 Barry Lowe Kate Officer ** Subaru RX Turbo 1987 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Alfa Romeo GTV6 1988 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Mazda 323 4WD 1989 Greg Carr Mick Harker Lancia Delta Integrale 1990 Ed Ordynski Mark Nelson Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 1991 Robert Herridge Steve Vanderbyl Subaru Liberty RS 1992 Robert Herridge Mark Nelson Subaru Liberty RS 1993 Neal Bates Coral Taylor Toyota Celica GT-Four 1994 Neal Bates Coral Taylor Toyota Celica GT-Four 1995 Neal Bates Coral Taylor Toyota Celica GT-Four 1996 Possum Bourne Craig Vincent Subaru Impreza 555 1997 Possum Bourne Craig Vincent Subaru Impreza 555 1998 Possum Bourne Craig Vincent Subaru Impreza 555 1999 Possum Bourne Craig Vincent Subaru Impreza WRC98 2000 Possum Bourne Mark Stacey Subaru Impreza WRC98 2001 Possum Bourne Craig Vincent Subaru Impreza WRC 2002 Possum Bourne Mark Stacey Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2003 Cody Crocker Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2004 Cody Crocker Greg Foletta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2005 Cody Crocker Dale Moscatt Subaru Impreza WRX STi Spec-C 2006 Simon Evans Sue Evans Toyota Corolla Sportivo (NP) 2007 Simon Evans Sue Evans Toyota Corolla Sportivo (NP) 2008 Neal Bates Coral Taylor Toyota Corolla S2000 2009 Simon Evans Sue Evans Toyota Corolla S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2010 Simon Evans Sue Evans Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2011 Justin Dowel Matt Lee Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2012 2WD: Eli Evans Glen Weston Honda Jazz 4WD: Michael Boaden Helen Cheers Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2013 Eli Evans Glen Weston Honda Jazz 2014 Scott Pedder Dale Moscatt Renault Clio 2015 Eli Evans Glen Weston Citroen DS3 2016 Molly Taylor Bill Hayes Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2017 Nathan Quinn Bill Hayes *** Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX2018 Eli Evans Ben SearcySkoda Fabia R52019 Harry Bates John McCarthyToyota Yaris AP42020 Not Awarded (COVID-19)2021 Not Awarded (COVID-19)2022 Lewis Bates Anthony McLoughlin Toyota GR Yaris AP42023 Harry Bates Coral Taylor Toyota GR Yaris AP42024 Harry Bates Coral Taylor Toyota GR Yaris Rally22025 Hayden Paddon John Kennard Hyundai i20 N Rally2
* Fred Gocentas co-drove for Greg Carr during the 1978 season while Dawson-Damer co-drove for Colin Bond while also scoring points on one occasion co-driving for Dave Morrow which enabled him to beat Gocentas to the co-driver's title. ** Kate Officer co-drove for David Officer during the 1986 season. *** Bill Hayes co-drove for Molly Taylor during the 2017 season. David Calder and Ben Searcy co-drove for Quinn in 2017.
Group N Rally Championship Year Driver Co-driver Vehicle 1990 Ed Ordynski (SA) Mark Nelson (SA) Mitsubishi Galant VR4 1991 Bob Nicoli (WA) Brian Harwood (WA) Daihatsu Charade GTti 1992 Robert Herridge (WA) Mark Nelson (SA) Subaru Liberty RS 1993 Ed Ordynski (SA) Mark Stacey (SA) Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E 1994 Ed Ordynski (SA) Mark Stacey (SA) Mitsubishi Lancer RS-E2 1995 Ed Ordynski (SA) Mark Stacey (SA) Mitsubishi Lancer RS-Ev2 1996 Michael Guest (NSW) Steve O'Brien-Pounde (NSW) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 1997 Michael Guest (NSW) Mark Stacey (SA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 1998 Cody Crocker (VIC) Greg Foletta (VIC) Subaru Impreza WRX 1999 Cody Crocker (VIC) Greg Foletta (VIC) Subaru Impreza WRX 2000 Cody Crocker (VIC) Greg Foletta (VIC) Subaru Impreza WRX 2001 Cody Crocker (VIC) Greg Foletta (VIC) Subaru Impreza WRX 2002 Possum Bourne (NZ) Mark Stacey (QLD) Subaru Impreza WRX
Australian Manufacturers Champions Year Company 1969 Ford Motor Co of Aust. 1970 Renault (Aust) Pty Ltd 1971 General Motors-Holden's 1972 General Motors-Holden's 1973 General Motors-Holden's 1974 General Motors-Holden's 1975 Nissan Motor Co (Aust) 1976 Nissan Motor Co (Aust) 1977 Nissan Motor Co (Aust) 1988 Mazda Motors Pty Ltd 1989 Lancia Spa 1990 Mitsubishi Motors Aust Ltd 1991 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1992 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1993 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1994 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1995 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1996 Daihatsu Australia Pty Ltd 1997 Mitsubishi Motors Aust Ltd 1998 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 1999 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2000 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2001 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2002 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2003 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2004 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2005 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2006 Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2007 Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2012 Honda Motor Company Australia Limited 2013 Honda Motor Company Australia Limited 2014 Citroen Australia 2015 Citroen Australia 2016 Subaru Australia Pty Ltd 2022 Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited 2023 Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited2024Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited2025Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited
Australian Formula 2 Rally Champions Year Driver Co-driver Vehicle 1995 Bob Nicoli (WA) Claire Parker (WA) Daihatsu Charade GTi 1996 Ross Mackenzie (WA) Tony Brandon (ACT) Daihatsu Charade GTi 1997 Brett Middleton (NSW) Linda Long (NSW) Honda Civic 1998 Rick Bates (ACT) Jenny Brittan (NSW) Daihatsu Charade GTi 1999 Simon Evans (VIC) Sue Evans (VIC) VW Golf Mk III Kit Car 2000 Lee Peterson (TAS) Graham Legg-Stoker (VIC) Nissan Pulsar GTi 2001 Andrew Hannigan (WA) Duncan Jordan (WA) Daihatsu Charade GTi 2002 Warwick Rooklyn (NSW) Linda Long (NSW) Daihatsu Charade GTi
Australian F16 Rally Champions Year Driver Co-driver Vehicle 2003 Lee Peterson (TAS) Graham Legg-Stoker (VIC) Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg 2004 Denise Collins (SA) Gerard McConkey (QLD) Honda Civic 2005 Leigh Garrioch (VIC) Ken Garrioch (VIC) Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg 2006 Leigh Garrioch (VIC) Ken Garrioch (VIC) Mitsubishi Mirage Cyborg
See also
Motorsport in Australia List of Australian motor racing series
References
External links Official Championship Web Site