# 2009 Australian Rally Championship

The 2009 Australian Rally Championship season is the 42nd season in the history of the competition.
It is also the first since the mid-1980s to take place with no significant manufacturer support after Toyota withdrew its support of the Bates Motor Sport rally team which has competed as Toyota Team Australia since the early 1990s. Toyota did fund the team's final appearance at the tarmac Rally Tasmania, but after that Neal Bates had to find other sources of funding for his Corolla. Simon Evans left the team, taking up the reins of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX under the banner of his own personal building business. Despite this setback, Evans and his wife Sue regained the title they had lost the previous year to their now former boss. Bates could only manage third in the title, finishing behind one of the Corollas he had previously built to the Group N+ regulations, driven by an ever-consistent Glen Raymond. Evans younger brother Eli slipped to fourth in the standings after beating Simon into second position last year.

## The Rallies

The 2009 season featured six rallies, the first five of which contribute to the drivers' title. The sixth, the newly reinstated Rally Australia, will contribute only to the manufacturers standings.
| Round | Rally | Date |
| 1 | Rally Tasmania | 13–15 February |
| 2 | Rally of Canberra | 7–8 March |
| 3 | Quit Forest Rally | 3–5 April |
| 4 | Rally Queensland | 9–10 May |
| 5 | Sprints Auto Parts Rally SA | 31 July – 2 August |
| 6 | Repco Rally Australia | 3–6 September |

## Teams & Drivers

The following are the competitors from the 2009 ARC season.
| Team | Manufacturer | Number | Driver | Co-driver | Class |
| Bates Motor Sport | Toyota | 1 | Neal Bates | Coral Taylor | Super 2000 |
| Bates Motor Sport | Toyota | 3 | Simon Evans | Sue Evans | Super 2000 |
| Tankformers | Subaru | 2 | Eli Evans | Chris Murphy | Group N |
| Simons Builders | Mitsubishi | 3 | Simon Evans | Sue Evans | Group N |
| Spencer Lowndes | Mitsubishi | 4 | Spencer Lowndes | Chris Randell | Group N |
| Raymond Partner Accounting | Toyota | 5 | Glen Raymond | Matt Raymond | Group N P |
| Maximum Motorsport | Subaru | 6 | Dean Herridge | Glen Weston | Group N |
| Activ Rallysport | Mitsubishi | 7 | Justin Dowel | Matt Lee | PRC |
| Les Walkden Rallying | Subaru | 8 | Brendan Reeves | Rhianon Smyth | Group N |
| Wauchope Motors | Subaru | 9 | Michael Boaden | Helen Cheers | PRC |
| Kumhyo Tyres | Subaru | 10 | Tony Sullens | Julia Barkley | PRC |
| OzTec Suspension | Mitsubishi | 11 | Steven Shepheard | John McCarthy | PRC |
| Kiplings Bakery | Mitsubishi | 12 | Brett Kipling | Darren Masters | PRC |
| Nathan Quinn | Mitsubishi | 12 | Nathan Quinn | David Green | Group N |
| Total Motorsport | Subaru | 12 | Craig Brooks | Tony Jackson | Group N |
| Matt van Tuinen | Subaru | 14 | Matt van Tuinen | Daniel Wilson | PRC |
| Fullerton Financial Services | Mitsubishi | 16 | Bruce Fullerton | Hugh Reardon-Smith | PRC |
| Fullerton Financial Services | Mitsubishi | 19 | Ryan Smart | Rebecca Smart | PRC |
| Allquip Australia | Ford | 17 | Barney Hogan | Darren Grainger | Group N |
| Marlin Australia | Subaru | 24 | John Murray Senior | Bob Selby-Wood | PRC |
| Barry Kirk Rallying | Mazda Mitsubishi | 32 | Barry Kirk | Lisa Reed White | |

## Drivers Championship

| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Tasmania | Tasmania | Tasmania | Canberra | Canberra | Forest | Forest | Qld | Qld | RallySA | RallySA | Total |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Heat1 | Heat2 | Heat3 | Heat1 | Heat2 | Heat1 | Heat2 | Heat1 | Heat2 | Heat1 | Heat2 | Total |
| 1 | Simon Evans | Bates Motor Sport Simon's Builders | Toyota Corolla S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 17 | 34 | 20 | 40 | 41 | | 34 | 40 | 41 | 60 | 52.5 | 379.5 |
| 2 | Glen Raymond | Raymond Partner Accountants | Toyota Corolla Sportivo | 11 | 26 | 11 | 30 | 26 | 40 | 30 | 34 | 34 | 51 | 45 | 338 |
| 3 | Neal Bates | Bates Motor Sport | Toyota Corolla S2000 | 20 | 40 | 18 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 41 | 30 | 31 | 12 | | 272 |
| 4 | Eli Evans | Tankformers | Subaru Impreza WRX | 15 | 30 | 15 | | | 34 | 22 | 26 | | 45 | 60 | 247 |
| 5 | Justin Dowel | Activ Rallysport | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 8 | 14 | 8 | 26 | 30 | 26 | | 20 | 18 | 39 | 24 | 213 |
| 6 | Steven Shepheard | OzTec Suspension | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | | | | 12 | 22 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 39 | 169 |
| 7 | Ryan Smart | Fullerton Financial Services | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | | | | | | 22 | 20 | 22 | 22 | 33 | 27 | 146 |
| 8 | Brett Kipling | Kipling's Bakery | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | 20 | 20 | 20 | | | | 27 | 33 | 120 |
| 9 | Simon Knowles | Speedie Contractors | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | | | | | | 16 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 10.5 | 21 | 87.5 |
| 10 | John Berne | Beecroft Dental Centre | Subaru Impreza RS | | | | 16 | 10 | | | 9 | 9 | 21 | 18 | 83 |
| 11 | Dean Herridge | Maximum Motorsport | Subaru Impreza WRX | 9 | 20 | 9 | | | 10 | 26 | | | | | 74 |
| 12 | Brendan Reeves | Les Walkden Rallying | Subaru Impreza WRX | 13 | 22 | 10 | | | | | 7 | 20 | | | 72 |
| 13 | Matt van Tuinen | Matt van Tuinen | Subaru Impreza WRX | | | | | | | | 18 | 16 | 7.5 | 30 | 71.5 |
| 14 | Cameron Sluce | Cameron Sluce | Subaru Impreza RS | | | | 18 | 12 | | | 10 | 10 | | | 50 |
| 15 | Barry Kirk | Barry Kirk Rallying | Mazda RX-7 Mitsubishi Mirage | | | 6 | | | | | 6 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 46 |
| 16 | Luke Page | Rally Development Racing | Hyundai Excel | | | | | | | | | 8 | 18 | 15 | 41 |
| 17 | Nathan Quinn | Nathan Quinn | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | | | | | | | | 14 | 26 | 20 | | 40 |
| 18 | Michael Boaden | Wauchope Motors | Subaru Impreza WRX | | | | 22 | 18 | | | | | | | 40 |
| 19 | Spencer Lowndes | Spencer Lowndes | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 10 | 16 | 13 | | | | | | | | | 39 |
| 20 | Richard HOughton | Houghton Team Racing | Subaru Impreza WRX | | | | 14 | 14 | | | 5 | | | | 33 |
| 21 | John V. Murray | Marlin Australia | Subaru Impreza WRX | | | | | | | | 8 | | 9 | 13.5 | 30.5 |
| 22 | Darren Windus | Groundforce Truck Rentals | Toyota Corolla S2000 | | | | | | 30 | | | | | | 30 |
| 23 | Tony Sullens | Kumho Tyres | Subaru Impreza WRX | 5 | 18 | 7 | | | | | | | | | 30 |
| 24 | Barney Hogan | Allquip Australia | Ford Fiesta | 6 | | | | | | | | | 13.5 | 10.5 | 30 |
| 25 | Jack Flanagan | Bisous | Nissan Sunny | | | | | | 14 | 14 | | | | | 28 |
| 26 | Bruce Fullerton | Fullerton Financial Services | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI | | | | | | | | | | 24 | | 24 |
| 27 | Charlie Drake | Claddagh Civil | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII | | | | | 16 | | | | | | | 16 |
| 28 | Craig Brooks | Total Motorsport | Subaru Impreza WRX | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | 7 |