MOLLY Taylor has officially become the first female to win the Kumho Tyre Australian Rally Championship after a close final round at Rally Australia in Coffs harbour.
In the closest finish in the championship’s history, Taylor came out on top of a three-way final round by two points over Simon Evans and eight points over Harry Bates.
Taylor’s two-point margin over Evans came after a post-rally penalty was awarded to fellow ARC competitor Mark Pedder who incurred a one minute time penalty after competition concluded.
A delighted Molly said: “I can confirm today that dreams really do come true.
“Talk about taking it down to the wire! We knew we had to give it everything on those last two stages after a really consistent run all weekend and we pushed so hard.
“And then to get the news that there was a possible penalty for Mark, it was like being on a rollercoaster.
“Bill, Les Walkden and the team have done an amazing job all year and it’s such a pleasure to work with a truly professional outfit that has an amazing team spirit.”
The victory is the first for a female driver in any major Australian championship, following in the footsteps of mother Coral Taylor who won four titles as the co-driver for Neal Bates — Harry Bates’ father.
Kumho Tyre has been a sponsor of the ARC for the past 6 years and Molly Taylor is a Kumho Brand Ambassador