The Australian Rally Championship’s runaway leader, Harry Bates, took another step towards his first national title last weekend when he dominated the Eureka Rush Rally in Victoria.
Bates and his works Toyota Yaris AP4 have now won all four rounds held so far, and could wrap up the title in South Australia next month.
That could leave him free to run outside the Australian Rally Championship in November’s Rally Australia, where he could move away from the series’ control tyre and run on WRC spec Michelins.
Freed from title aspirations and the control MRF tyre, Bates would then have the opportunity to showcase his talents against the best of the WRC’s R5 drivers – provided a good showing of Europeans make the journey down under.
Further to that, 24-year old Bates now has
his sights set on the 2020 WRC, where he has plans to contest either the Junior
WRC, or the WRC2 category.
It’s an expensive jump though, and without the factory backing of Toyota Australia, it will be a huge job just to raise the funds to make it to the start line of the first event.
It’s estimated that upwards of $400,000 is needed to contest the six-round JWRC, but if Bates wants to make a name for himself on the world stage, then he has little option than to spread his wings.
New Zealand’s David Holder is proof just how hard it is to not only raise the funds to contest a WRC championship, let alone be fast enough on brand new events to get good results.
Bates has said that he would ideally continue his program with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship next year as well, making for a very busy season if his plans come to fruition.
Like many young drivers, however, he knows that it’s a case of ‘now or never’.
Paddon quietly confident
Hayden Paddon enjoyed the challenge of a brand new event in Australia last weekend, despite things not always going to plan.
Driving a borrowed Hyundai i20 R5, Paddon retired early in Heat 1 of the one-day event after hitting a rock and breaking the car’s right front suspension.
“It was my mistake,” he admitted. “The rock was hidden behind a tussock of grass and I didn’t see it in the recce.
“Everything was going well before then, but fortunately the guys were able to get the car fixed and running again for Heat 2.”
The afternoon stages also presented their problems, when the Kiwi spun the car and couldn’t get it started again, but he persevered and was easily the quickest driver in the field for the remainder of the day.
After the release of his book and the unveiling of plans to build an electric rally car, Paddon remains confident of getting back into the WRC before year’s end.
“We should have some news in the next couple of weeks,” he said, despite being guarded about how much information he was prepared to give away.
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