Harry Bates And Coral Taylor Win Rally Tasmania To Secure Second Consecutive ARC Title

November 26, 2024

2024 ARC Round 6 - Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania, Burnie, Burnie, Tasmania, Australia. 24 Nov, 2024.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia (TGRA) defending rally champions Harry Bates and Coral Taylor are back-to-back Australian Rally Championship (ARC) winners after taking out the final round of the 2024 season at Rally Tasmania.

Harry and Coral finished the weekend 13 seconds ahead of second-placed TGRA teammates Lewis Bates and Anthony McLoughlin, whose consistency and regular podium finishes throughout the 2024 ARC season saw them finish in third in the overall driver and co-driver standings respectively.

The TGRA rally team’s 1-2 finish in Tasmania was also enough to secure a seventh ARC Manufacturer’s title for Toyota, and its first with the team campaigning the new GR Yaris Rally2 car, Toyota’s first factory-built rally car homologated for WRC2 use.

Toyota Australia Chief Marketing Officer Vin Naidoo said it was an outstanding finish to what had been a remarkable year for the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Australia Rally Team.

“We started the year with Harry and Coral campaigning an all-new car with the factory-built GR Yaris Rally2 and it couldn’t have been better with the pair taking victory in their home-town rally in Canberra, followed closely by Lewis and Anthony in the GR Yaris AP4 making it a double podium for the first rally of the 2024 season,” Mr Naidoo said.

“It was a scenario that was to play out several times across the season and I’d like to thank Harry, Coral, Lewis, Anthony and of course Neal Bates and the entire team at Neal Bates Motorsport for delivering such an excellent result with a clean sweep of the Drivers, Co-Drivers and Manufacturers titles.

“The car plays a part of course but we are so proud of the dedication, skill and passionate commitment of the entire TGRA Rally Team that makes it so successful, and we can’t wait to get back out on stages in 2025,” he said.

Toyota’s win in Australia was mirrored over the weekend with another double podium in the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) at Rally Japan where a 1-2 finish by TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s (TGR) Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin and Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais driving their GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRIDs gave Toyota its eighth WRC Manufacturers Championship title.

Harry’s third Driver’s title (2019, ’23, ’24) puts him only one win behind his father and TGRA rally team manager Neal Bates, while Coral’s Co-driver title puts her in rarified air as the only person in ARC history to hold six Co-driver’s Championships (1993, ’94, ’95, ’08, ’23, ’24) – four with Neal and two with Harry.

The TGRA rally team has won the past four ARC championships starting in 2019, with 2020 and 2021 titles not being awarded due to COVID-19 disruptions, and Lewis and Anthony winning in 2022.

In dusty conditions around Burnie on Tasmania’s north coast, Harry and Coral started strongly on day 1, trailing Scott Pedder and Glenn Macneall before radiator damage forced their retirement.

Wins in stage 4, 6 and 7 saw Harry and Coral finish Saturday 24.8 seconds clear of brother Lewis and Anthony, putting the pair in the box seat to secure their victory.

Lewis and Anthony came out with a point to prove on Sunday, winning the first three stages and five in total for the day, including the power stage, to narrow the gap on Harry and Coral.

However clinical performances from the reigning champions helped keep their TGRA teammates from spoiling the party, winning stage 14 and remaining near the top of the standings throughout the day.

Despite the power stage win, Lewis and Anthony narrowly missed out on second place in the championship standings, however a podium finish for the season marked an exceptional performance after the team only received their new GR Yaris Rally2 midway through the season and had to deal with a serious crash in Queensland Rally.

Harry Bates quote: “It’s been an incredible year – the whole team’s worked brilliantly and it’s been a real team effort to get to this point. Obviously driver’s championship, co-driver’s championship and manufacturer’s championship – we got the clean sweep so that’s nice, but just a massive thanks to everyone at Neal Bates Motorsport for their work throughout the year, it’s been incredible.”

Lewis Bates quote: “It was a great weekend for Anthony and I and we won the power stage. Ultimately our goal was to get second place in the championship and win the manufacturer’s title – we won the manufacturer’s title, but we finished third in the championship. Obviously, we’re a little bit disappointed with that, but overall a really strong weekend, especially after our big crash in Queensland, I’m really happy with the second half of our year.”

Neal Bates quote: “Obviously we’re incredibly happy to win the driver’s championship and the manufacturer’s championship. Harry and Coral have done a fantastic job this year, and Lewis and Anthony after the problems of Queensland have come back really well and missed out on second place by one point, so they’ve done an amazing job to come back. As a team, I couldn’t be more proud of what everyone’s done from the whole crew to drivers and co-drivers.”

Drivers and teams now look forward to the 2025 ARC season which is set to keep delivering the thrills, excitement and hotly contested racing the championship has been known for, with the six-round series to kick off from March 21-23 on Bates home turf at the Rally of Canberra.

RALLY TASMANIA RESULTS:

DAY 1:

1^ST: Harry Bates
2^nd: Lewis Bates

DAY 2:

1^st: Lewis Bates
2^nd: Harry Bates

OVERALL:

1^st: Harry Bates
2^nd: Lewis Bates

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

1^st: Harry Bates & Coral Taylor, 504
2^nd: Eddie Maguire & Zak Brakey, 397
3^rd: Lewis Bates & Anthony McLoughlin, 396
4^th: Scott Pedder & Glenn Macneall, 290
5^th: Alex Rullo & Steve Glenney, 285

2025 ARC CALENDAR: