Special Stage: Unpacking Bates and Neuville’s championship titles

On this week’s Special Stage Rally Podcast we're joined by Junior World Rally Championship co-driver, Dan Brkic, as he prepares for Rally Sweden. Brkic and his driver, Taylor Gill, are currently getting ready for the first of five rounds in the JWRC, and we catch up to see how their preparations are going. We also run through the likely front-runners in this year’s Australian Rally Championship to discuss who’s doing what, and break down last weekend’s Monte Carlo Rally where Sebastien Ogier took a record-breaking 10th victory. How good was Adrien Fourmaux’s debut Hyundai drive, and what about Josh McErlean’s first event in a Rally1 car? We give our thoughts. Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Brad Jones Racing Run Down is back for 2025! On this ep, the driver of the #96 Macauley Jones and BJR general manager Chris Westwood talk about what a Supercars team does when everyone comes back from the Christmas and New Year break and the intensity of that period, revealing the ritual behind how BJR names its new cars, Macca’s new/old engineer, plus their take on a key rule change for 2025. Become a BJR Member in 2025 >> https://www.bradjonesracing.com.au/bjr-memberships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s happened across the rallying off-season? The answer is plenty! RallySport Magazine’s Luke Whitten is joined by guests Brendan Reeves and Mitch Newton to discuss what’s happened over the holiday break. There’s champions looking to return, new stages for the Australian Rally Championship opener and WRC drivers given the shot of a lifetime. The conversation then culminates in a fascinating Rallye Monte Carlo chat and our predictions of who will take the top spot. Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ve got a special summer episode of the Brad Jones Racing Run Down to kick off your 2025! On this ep, the driver of the #96 Macauley Jones and BJR general manager Chris Westwood run through a bunch of terms and jargon you’ll hear used around motorsport and what they all mean. Become a BJR Member in 2025 >> https://www.bradjonesracing.com.au/bjr-memberships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The final Brad Jones Racing Run Down of the year has the driver of the #96 Macauley Jones in the host chair! With BJR general manager Chris Westwood off sick (get well soon!), Macca is joined by BJR boss Brad Jones to look back at season 2024 and chat about the highlights, lowlights, and their take on some of the things on the horizon for 2025. Become a BJR Member in 2025 >> https://www.bradjonesracing.com.au/bjr-memberships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final episode of the Special Stage Rally Podcast this season, the RallySport Magazine team give their highlights of the year and discuss what’s happened over the course of a busy 2024. Who are some drivers to look out for next year? What events are going to be the ones to watch in 2025? This episode puts a bow on the 2024 rally year and shares what’s to come in the New Year. Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

RallySport Magazine welcomes two of the brightest young rally drivers to the podcast this week as they talk about their winning seasons in the Australian Rally Championship. Firstly, though, Luke and Peter Whitten recap the Silver Fern Rally that concluded late last week. Then Bodie Reading and Mitch Garrad talk about their respective Production and Junior Cup wins and give an insight as to what the future might hold for them. Also discussed is the Monza Rally Show and the stunning McKlein rally calendars in the RallySport Magazine shop. Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this week’s Brad Jones Racing Run Down the driver of the #96 Macauley Jones and BJR general manager Chris Westwood look back at the final race of the 2024 season at the Adelaide 500. They talk about battling the 35-degree heat in the Saturday race and how it highlighted a deficiency with one of the Gen3 specs, whether Turn 8 needs to be changed in the wake of some of the weekend’s accidents, while a chat about concussions leads Macca to open up on the time he raced in Adelaide while concussed, plus much more. Become a BJR Member in 2024 >> https://www.bradjonesracing.com.au/bjr-memberships Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both Rally Tasmania and Rally Japan lived up to the hype and we welcome Taylor Gill as the podcast’s co-host to describe the action. Midway through Sunday, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaghe took their first World Rally Championship title, then later, Harry Bates and Coral Taylor took the Australian Rally Championship title in Tasmania. We discuss each of those events and the troubles of some of their rivals, including Ott Tanak and Scott Pedder. To conclude the podcast, we welcome regular host, Peter Whitten, to update us on what’s happening in New Zealand at the marathon Silver Fern Rally. Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rally season is about to come to an end, but there's no doubt that it's finishing with a bang. We have it all on this episode of Special Stage. The boys dive into a massive weekend of rallying, with three major events in three countries. Peter Whitten will head to New Zealand for the marathon 7-day Silver Fern Rally, while Luke Whitten will be in the Apple Isle getting the low-down on the final round of a successful Australian Rally Championship season. Not to be outdone, the final round of the WRC takes place in Japan from Thursday evening. It's nearly summer, but there's definitely no shortage of rallying to talk about! Special Stage is produced for the Motorsport Podcast Network by RallySport Magazine >> https://rallysportmag.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices