The 2025 Quality Accounting Coffs Coast Rally delivered a thrilling finale to the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, with Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith taking a hard-fought outright victory after a day of challenges, comeback drives, and championship drama on the Coffs Coast.

The Redhead Motorsport crew’s weekend didn’t start smoothly. In Heat 1, their Hyundai i20 suffered engine issues that forced the team to turn off the anti-lag system, robbing the car of valuable turbo boost and making it difficult to drive out of corners. The pair battled through, keeping their championship hopes alive with steady pace before unleashing their full potential later in the day when the issue was addressed by the Service crew.

As conditions changed, so did the momentum. Redhead and Winwood-Smith charged back to win both Heat 2 and Heat 3, securing the outright rally win and finishing over a minute ahead of Brad Hardaker and Pete Hellwig in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO. The 2nd outright result was particularly impressive given that Hardaker, was competing in only his second ever rally, a remarkable performance that turned heads across the service park.

Ian Menzies and Robert McGowan in the Toyota Yaris AP4 completed the podium in third place, securing them the Queenslkand Rally Championship victory

At the final control after the night stage, Redhead was thrilled to end the season on a high. “It was great to take the win” Redhead said. “It was so challenging, that’s for sure. It’s a completely different characteristic tonight to what we saw this morning. There wasn’t much grip in there to start with, but we’re really happy to take the win.”

“Props to Tony”, he continued. “He’s put up a good fight and has probably won the series. It was a bit of a long shot for us to win, but we tried our hardest.”

For Tony Sullens and Kaylie Newell, it was a tense day where every point mattered. The Citroën DS3 team needed a strong finish to secure the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, but early in the event they were held back by a limp-mode fault that restricted engine performance. Once the issue was resolved, they found their pace again on the night stage, doing enough to likely seal the championship win.

Other standout performances came from Mal Keough and Pip Bennett, bringing their iconic Audi Quattro home fourth outright, and Nathan Quinn and David Green, who thrilled fans in the 50-year-old Mazda RX-2 with trademark sideways style, especially on the night stages where Quinn excelled.

Across ten special stages and three heats, crews faced everything from dry, dusty morning roads to slippery night stages under lights. The variety made the final round one of the toughest yet and one of the most rewarding.

From a NSW Rally Championship perspective, and with dropped rounds applied, the provisional 2025 Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship finishes with Tony Sullens/Kaylee Newell taking the win. Josh Redhead and Ray Winwood-Smith are second. Jody Mill seals third and, like Tony Sullens, finished every single heat of the 2025 season.

It was one of the closest championships in years, with just twelve points separating the top three drivers. Sullens and Newell’s consistency throughout the season ultimately earned them the title, while Redhead and Winwood-Smith’s outright win at Coffs capped off a strong campaign that nearly turned the tables.

Nathan Quinn, who suffered a puncture in Heat 1 at Coffs, might well have changed the entire shape of the championship had luck been on his side.

Meanwhile, Lachlan Moore and Paul Bailey’s hopes of a top-three championship finish ended early after a driveline failure forced them to withdraw following Heat 1, a tough break after a consistent and competitive season.

The 2025 Quality Accounting Coffs Coast Rally was organised by the Coffs Harbour and District Sporting Car Club and proudly supported by Quality Accounting, with thanks to series partners Shamrock Haulage and MRF Tyres. The event closed out an incredible 2025 season for Rally

NSW, celebrating the skill, endurance, and spirit of competitors across the state.

Photo: Roy Meuronen Photography