The ‘unbeatable’ Toyota GR Yaris AP4 cars of Australian Rally Champion Harry Bates, and his brother Lewis, could appear at September’s Rally New Zealand.
After we revealed last week that Supercars champion, Shane van Gisbergen, was keen to contest his home WRC round, Toyota’s lead driver has also flagged his desire.
“Of course we’d love to contest Rally New Zealand and experience the famous stages on the North Island,” Harry Bates said.
“We need to look at logistics in terms of getting the cars back in time, as we have the South Australian round of our national championship just three weeks later.
“The Australian Rally Championship is our priority, but we’re actively looking into an entry into Rally New Zealand.”
The official Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia team has some experience in getting cars back across the ditch, following Neal Bates’ entries into the Otago Rally in 2014 and 2015.
A change in customs rules means the cars should be able to be quarantined back at the team’s workshop on return from New Zealand, but that is all still to be confirmed by the team.
For the Neal Bates Motorsport prepared Toyota GR Yaris AP4s to compete at Rally New Zealand, they should only need approval from Motorsport New Zealand.
This would mean that they would be entered under the local ASN rules, and while they can compete within the WRC field and run essentially as a ‘Rally2’ car, they would not be eligible for WRC2 points.
Although the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) hasn’t been awarded since 2019, Harry Bates is the reigning champion and is undefeated in any rally he has contested since the start of the 2019 season.
He heads into this year’s ARC as an almost unbackable favourite.
One of his biggest rivals at the opening round next month will be van Gisbergen, driving a Skoda Fabia R5. The Kiwi said last week he’d be keen to enter Rally New Zealand, although those plans still seem a long way off.
The Supercars calendar would allow for his entry though. Rally New Zealand is the week before the Bathurst 1000, giving van Gisbergen enough time to contest both events should he desire.
Another Australian driver, Luke Anear, is also expected to enter the event in a brand new Ford Fiesta Rally2 that he has purchased for a limited WRC program this year.
Anear, a successful businessman and the owner of Safety Culture, a major sponsor of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team, is also hoping to contest the Safari Rally in Kenya in a Ford Puma Rally1 hybrid.
That drive, however, could be scuppered by news that Sebastien Loeb is tipped to drive M-Sport’s fourth car in Kenya.
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