Coffs Coast Rally 2008 videos and ARC final results: Neal Bates, in his TRD Toyota Corolla S2000, secures Australian Rally Championship

logo59 Coffs Coast Rally 2008 videos and ARC final results: Neal Bates, in his TRD Toyota Corolla S2000, secures Australian Rally Championship

Toyota dominates in Australia

Toyota has claimed both the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships at the season-ending Coffs Coast Rally (which took place 15-16 Nov), with team boss Neal Bates claiming his fourth and Toyota’s ninth domestic rally title.

Bates cruised to seventh position in both Heats of the rally to easily claim the required points he needed to become just the third person ever to win four or more ARC Drivers’ titles.

Edition 59 Handbrakes & Hairpins: http://www.rallybuzz.com/handbrakes-and-hairpins/H&H-59.pdf

ARC Champion Neal Bates pictured on the Rally of Canberra

AUS Bates Coffs Coast Rally 2008 videos and ARC final results: Neal Bates, in his TRD Toyota Corolla S2000, secures Australian Rally Championship

In a performance reminiscent of Australia’s three-time Formula 1 World Champion, Jack Brabham, Bates won the title in an S2000-spec Corolla that he helped build - a rare feat in modern motorsport.Bates has secured 32 outright ARC wins in a career spanning more than 20 years and has also made 14 appearances in the World Rally Championship and finished third in the 1997 International Race of Champions.

Since winning his first ARC title in 1993, TRD boss Bates has also recorded outright victory in Targa Tasmania, six Bathurst 12-hour class wins and has sat on pole at the Bathurst 1000. Team-mate and two-time champion, Simon Evans claimed Heat 1 in convincing fashion and was headed for a cleansweep of the Coffs Harbour-based event until a transmission problem sidelined him for three stages, dropping him to fourth outright.

Coffs Coast Rally 2008 videos:

It was a disappointing end to a season full of bad luck for the defending champion, but as ever, Evans was philosophical about his Heat 2 issue and is determined to bounce back in season 2009.

Young Victorian privateer Glen Raymond capped his debut season in an ex-TRD Corolla with a career-best second place in Heat 2 of the Coffs Coast Rally - a results that saw him claim third overall.TRD guest driver Paul Gover achieved his goal of a top-10 finish with 10th place in Heat 2, a worthy conclusion to a measured driver in challenging conditions.

Guy Wilks had been as high as second place in the 2WD JAS Motorsport run Honda Civic Type R3 and was pushing for the lead until this crash:

Team TRD Rally now takes a well-deserved break until the 2009 ARC season begins earlier than usual with the Burniebased, all-tarmac Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge, scheduled for 14-15 February.

Australian Rally Championship Final Championship Standings:

01) Neal Bates (Toyota Corolla S2000) - 445 points
02) Eli Evans (Subaru Impreza WRX) - 337
03) Simon Evans (Toyota Corolla S2000) - 320
04) Spencer Lowndes (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO) - 284
05) Glen Raymond (Toyota Corolla Group N (P)) - 246
06) Michael Guest (Subaru Impreza WRX) - 194

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-CREDIT: rallysport.com.au

Article supplied by EVAN ROTHMAN / HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS