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Toyota Yaris

Motorsport

Harry Bates & Coral Taylor on top once again at Rally Launceston, even without his usual co-driver John McCarthy in Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Rally Championship

by Sports Benches

Harry Bates was too good once again at Rally Launceston in Tasmania after we just finished Round 3 of the 2022 Australian Rally Championship. It was a bit different though when his usual right-hand man John McCarthy was forced to sit out for a week due to a positive COVID test, so thankfully Coral Taylor was fortune to step into his place for this occasion. We love how Coral said during post-rally that she wore her retro racing apparel & hat as her good luck charm, while H.Bates smashed all 12 stages unchallenged from start to finish in the No.1 Toyota Yaris GR.

Finishing off P2 is the No.3 Shamrock Motorsports Yaris of Richie Dalton & Dale Moscatt. We love their strong start from Heat 1 Saturday that helped them work their way up into 2nd. Although they may have struggled a bit of consistency going into yesterday, but they pulled off well nonetheless.

Then we saw Harry’s brother Lewis finished 3rd with Anthony McLoughlin in the sister No.2 Yaris GR. They may have fired off slow earlier yesterday during Heat 1 but glad they caught up with ample time needed to get back into 4th going into Sunday – even though they had to settle for 2nd-3rd best in the final few stages.

4th place belongs to Troy Dowel & Bernie Webb in the No.4 Hyundai i20 for Proto Cars Australia. An early momentum build-up was important to stay ahead which is exactly what they wanted after Heat 1 Saturday. Although they couldn’t find a way to hold off L. Bates/A. McLoughlin going into today, but it’s still a treat to connect that execution past the final power stage.

And hats off to Eddie Maguire on his weekend at his hometown. Not only he topped the Top 5 but also won the Production Cup class in the No.7 Mitsubishi Evo 9 with Zak Brakey.

We can’t wait for Rally QLD on the 22nd-24th next month with four rounds left in the ARC schedule this year.

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Motorsport

2022 Australian Rally Championship: All three Toyota Yarises round out the podium spots at the Forest Rally WA with Harry Bates & John McCarthy as the overall winner

by Sports Benches

Good to see a couple of contenders throughout the three-day Forest Rally weekend across Western Australia in Round 2 of the 2022 Australian Rally Championship.

The Toyota pair of Harry Bates and John McCarthy fired off well in the No.1 Yaris, but it’s Eli Evans & Adam Wright who dominated the rest of the Bunbury Super Stages portion in the No.2 Mini Cooper, with a mix of dirt & asphalt through in and out of the Bunbury speedway. Evans & Wright continued to carry that early lead going into Saturday with the stage 5 win, before Bates & McCarthy managed to fight back top spot where they kept their arch rival quiet for the rest of Saturday’s action.

Now Evans & Wright may ended the long-running stranglehold of H. Bates/McCarthy earlier today in the 2nd & final leg beginning at Stage 13, but they sadly dropped out due to a fuel pump issue whilst leading with only three stages to go. So that paves the way for H. Bates/McCarthy to end their campaign here on a high with the power stage and overall win, even though the 80-second penalty didn’t bother him too much over a late check-in earlier today.

Next up is Harry Bates’s brother Lewis & his co-driver Anthony McLoughlin, who finished 2nd in the sister No.3 Yaris GR. Now this pair had to even had to pull over for repairs at one point towards the end of Friday’s activities after Stage 4. However, they made a remarkable recovery ever since that helped them catch up as it goes before they finished well inside the Top 3 following the Heat 2 win.

And joining the Bates brothers is 3rd placed pair of Richie Dalton & Dale Moscott, also in a Yaris, except it’s not a GR chassis. They simply never looked of place within the Top 3-5, especially over the last two days when they finished their Forest Rally WA journey on a high during the Power Stage in 2nd alone. They would’ve liked to took advantage of that H.Bates/McCarthy penalty well & split both Bates Gazoo cars towards the Top 2, but it’s still a great result nonetheless.

Two rounds down, five to go, with the Australian Rally Championship will now head off to Rally Launceston in Tasmania on the 25th-26th June next month.

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