After the disappointment of an early retirement at the previous round in Narooma, James O’Malley and co-driver Jono Forrest responded in the best possible way with a composed and determined performance at the 2026 Lazer Rally of the Bay, finishing fifth outright and first rear-wheel-drive crew home in their Toyota 86.

The result was the reward for a measured drive that built momentum throughout the day as the pair adapted to the demanding Batemans Bay forest roads and worked through several challenges to steadily climb the leaderboard.

Heading into the event, O’Malley was quietly confident the fast Batemans Bay roads would suit both his driving style and the Toyota 86.

“Stage one’s nuts,” he laughed before the start. “I think the car will be pretty well suited. There’s a bit of rough stuff in one stage which we’ll have to baby through just to make sure we don’t rip the guts out of it, but I think we’re well placed.”

That confidence was tested almost immediately.

After the opening loop, O’Malley sat eighth outright and was the leading rear-wheel-drive competitor, but admitted the team had spent the morning chasing the right tyre pressures.

“We struggled in the morning with tyre pressures,” he explained. “We only changed them about ten psi, just trying to figure it out. We went up for the third stage and it was better – the time was better. So if we stick with that we should be in a better place for the rest of the day.”

The rally was also only the second event using a new pacenote scale.

“We’re still figuring out what a four is,” O’Malley admitted. “We haven’t done that many kilometres in the last four months with the events being so far apart, and Narooma ending early, so I need to give myself a bit of a break. But we’re having fun.”

By Service B, those changes were paying dividends.

The Toyota 86 had climbed to sixth outright, with O’Malley explaining that one of the tighter stages naturally suited the four-wheel-drive cars.

“That stage didn’t suit us as well because it’s tight. That’s where you need the front wheels to drag you out, and we don’t have that,” he said. “We threw new tyres at it, which was much better… we’re happy enough.”

Despite climbing the leaderboard, the plan for the closing stages remained conservative.

“Just more of what we’re doing,” O’Malley said. “I don’t want to run off the road at this point, so we might dial it back a bit.”

That plan almost unravelled on the final stage.

An impact with a culvert early in the test damaged the side of the Toyota 86 and rattled the crew, but they recovered to bring the car safely to the finish.

“We smacked a culvert… it kind of rattled us,” O’Malley admitted afterwards. “That was pretty early on. We hadn’t gone off the road all day, but we’re here.”

Despite the late scare, he was quick to praise both his co-driver and one of his rivals.

When asked about battling young driver Ryley King throughout the day, O’Malley said, “He’s been doing a really good job today. I think it’s his first MA event, so hats off to him.”

He also couldn’t resist a laugh when reflecting on yet another late-rally excursion and joked before immediately praising Forrest. “Jono did a great job all day… we might have come off the notes just a little bit, and that sent us off the track, but that’s okay.”

The final result of fifth outright was one of O’Malley’s strongest performances to date and a perfect response after the disappointment of Narooma.

Rather than chasing outright times at every opportunity, O’Malley and Forrest built their rally progressively, solved problems as they arose and delivered a mature, calculated drive that reinforced their standing among New South Wales’ leading crews.

While the final stage provided one last scare, the Batemans Bay weekend ultimately belonged to a team that proved consistency, patience and smart decision-making can be just as valuable as outright speed.

For James O’Malley and Jono Forrest, the 2026 Lazer Rally of the Bay was exactly the response they were looking for.