Neal Bates

Neal Bates (born 19 March 1965) is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Throughout his career Bates has been associated with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship and for 19 years his Neal Bates Motorsport outfit ran Toyota's official rally program in Australia. Bates claimed four drivers' titles in this time and helped Toyota win four manufacturers' crowns.[1]

Neal Bates
Neal Bates and Coral Taylor
NationalityAustralia Australian
Born (1965-03-19) 19 March 1965
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Related toRick Bates (twin brother)
Alison Drower (sister-in-law)
Australian Rally Championship
Years active1989–2009
TeamsNeal Bates Motorsport
Best finish1st in 1993, 1994, 1995 & 2008
Previous series
1997–2003
1997

1997

1993–97
1989–93
1989
V8 Supercars
Australian Super Touring Championship
Australian GT Production Car Championship
World Rally Championship
Australian Endurance Championship
Australian Touring Car Championship
Championship titles
2008
1995
1995
1994
1993
Australian Rally Championship
Targa Tasmania
Australian Rally Championship
Australian Rally Championship
Australian Rally Championship

Bates' navigator/co-driver since 1993 has been Coral Taylor.

Bates long-time partnership with Toyota also brought the first of many circuit racing opportunities, a drive in a star search program in Toyota's Australian Touring Car Championship team. This led to a number of touring car racing opportunities with the factory Toyota Corolla teams as well as V8 Supercar teams including Paul Weel Racing, Glenn Seton Racing and Gibson Motor Sport.

Career results

Season Series Position Car Team
1991 World Rally Championship 56th Toyota Celica GT-Four Toyota Team Europe
Australian Rally Championship 2nd Neal Bates Motorsport
1992 Australian Rally Championship 4th Toyota Celica GT-Four Neal Bates Motorsport
1993 World Rally Championship 45th Toyota Celica GT-Four Neal Bates Motorsport
Australian Rally Championship 1st
1994 Australian Rally Championship 1st Toyota Celica GT-Four Neal Bates Motorsport
1995 World Rally Championship 27th Toyota Celica GT-Four Neal Bates Motorsport
Australian Rally Championship 1st
1996 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Celica GT-Four Neal Bates Motorsport
1997 World Rally Championship 26th Toyota Corolla WRC Neal Bates Motorsport
Australian Rally Championship 3rd
Australian Super Touring Championship 13th Toyota Camry Phoenix Motorsport
Australian GT Production Car Championship 13th Porsche 993 RSCS
1998 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC Neal Bates Motorsport
1999 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC Neal Bates Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 31st Ford AU Falcon Ford Tickford Racing
2000 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC Neal Bates Motorsport
2001 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla WRC Neal Bates Motorsport
Australian Nations Cup Championship 13th Porsche 996 GT3 Tekno Autosports
2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 43rd Ford AU Falcon 00 Motorsport
2003 Australian Rally Championship 8th Toyota Corolla Sportivo Turbo Neal Bates Motorsport
V8 Supercar Championship Series 65th Ford AU Falcon ICS Team Ford
2004 Australian Rally Championship 6th Toyota Corolla Sportivo Turbo Neal Bates Motorsport
2005 Australian Rally Championship 6th Toyota Corolla Sportivo Turbo Neal Bates Motorsport
2006 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla Sportivo Turbo Neal Bates Motorsport
2007 Australian Rally Championship 2nd Toyota Corolla S2000 Neal Bates Motorsport
2008 Australian Rally Championship 1st Toyota Corolla S2000 Neal Bates Motorsport
2009 Australian Rally Championship 3rd Toyota Corolla S2000 Neal Bates Motorsport
2012 Australian Classic Rally Championship 1st Toyota Celica Neal Bates Motorsport

WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 WDC Points
1991 Toyota Team Europe Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRC NZL ARG FIN AUS
5
ITA CIV ESP GBR 56th 2
1993 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD MON SWE POR KEN FRA GRE ARG NZL FIN AUS
8
ITA ESP GBR 45th 3
1995 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Celica GT-Four MON SWE POR FRA NZL AUS
9
ESP GBR 27th 2
1996 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Celica GT-Four SWE KEN IDN ARG FIN AUS
Ret
ITA ESP NC 0
1997 Toyota Castrol Team Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL
6
FIN IDN
Ret
ITA 27th 1
Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Celica GT-Four AUS
8
GBR
1998 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN ITA AUS
12
GBR NC 0
1999 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN CHN ITA AUS
Ret
GBR NC 0
2000 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE KEN POR ESP ARG GRE NZL FIN CYP FRA ITA AUS
9
GBR NC 0
2001 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Corolla WRC MON SWE POR ESP ARG CYP GRE KEN FIN NZL ITA FRA AUS
Ret
GBR NC 0
2009 Neal Bates Motorsport Toyota Corolla TRD S2000 IRE NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS
NC
ESP GBR NC 0

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1989 Toyota Team Australia Australia Mike Dowson Toyota Corolla FX-GT C 141 17th 1st
1990 Toyota Team Australia Australia John Faulkner Toyota Corolla FX-GT C 59 DNF DNF
1991 Toyota Team Australia Australia Rick Bates Toyota Corolla FX-GT 3 76 DNF DNF
1992 Toyota Team Australia Australia Rick Bates Toyota Corolla FX-GT B 125 24th 3rd
1993 Caltex CXT Racing Team Australia John Smith Toyota Corolla Seca B 113 DNF DNF
1997* Phoenix Motorsport Australia Mark Adderton Toyota Camry - 64 DNF DNF
1998 Paul Weel Racing Australia Paul Weel Ford EL Falcon OC 155 9th 9th
1999 Glenn Seton Racing Australia Geoff Brabham Ford AU Falcon - 159 10th 10th
2000 Ford Tickford Racing Australia Wayne Gardner Ford AU Falcon - 45 DNF DNF
2002 Gibson Motorsport Australia Rodney Forbes Ford AU Falcon - 159 14th 14th
2003 ICS Team Ford Australia Rick Bates Ford AU Falcon - 62 DNF DNF

* Super Touring race

Complete Sandown endurance results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1989 Toyota Team Australia Australia Mike Dowson Toyota Corolla FX-GT A 142 11th 2nd
1990 Toyota Team Australia Australia John Faulkner Toyota Corolla FX-GT V8 85 DNF DNF
1998 Paul Weel Racing Australia Paul Weel Ford EL Falcon OC 122 DNF DNF
2001 Tekno Autosports Australia Steve Webb Porsche 996 GT3 N 161 2nd 2nd
2003 ICS Team Ford Australia Rick Bates Ford AU Falcon - 136 25th 25th

References

  1. "Neal Bates and Coral Taylor Profiles". Toyota Racing Development. 3 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2008.
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