Bates tops shakedown times

The four-time national champion set the fastest time during a production-class shakedown ahead of Repco Rally Australia, which begins on the NSW north coast on Thursday night.

Speeding along a dusty forest road south of Murwillimbah at up to 180km/h, Bates was quickly into stride with the Toyota Corolla his team designed and developed at their race base in Canberra to take to back-to-back Australian championships with Bates and Simon Evans as drivers.

Bates clocked a time 1 minute 49.1 seconds in his Toyota Corolla, comfortably ahead of Norwegian driver Evyind Brynildsson in a Mitsubishi Lancer on 1:50.17, with Aussie youngster Eli Evans third on 1:50.8 in his Subaru Impreza. Japan's Toshi Arai, who leads the Subaru effort in the world championship, was also in the leading group with Australian co-driver Glenn MacNeal.

"That looks pretty promising. Testing doesn't mean a lot, and there are plenty of quick foreign guys who are still learning the Australian conditions, but it looks good," Bates said. "I'm very happy to have a few runs through the stage and to have the car running well. It felt very slippery at first but once I got more into the groove it seemed to be working well."

Bates is one of two wildcard local entries, along with three-time Australian champion Cody Crocker. The Subaru star has graduated since to the Asia-Pacific championship and is just five points from claiming his fourth straight crown this season.

Crocker clocked 1:51.5 over the test stage, according to unofficial times from the crews' co-drivers, but said there is more to come as he learns a car supplied by Tasmanian team boss Les Walkden in a late deal for Rally Australia.

"I've still got some things to do," Crocker said. "I'm just glad it's happening. It looked like we were going to miss out when our regular car from Indonesia didn't make it, but now we're here. How good is that?"

Bates and Crocker are both hoping to upset the regulars of the world production car championship and believe they have speed, as well as local experience, in their favour. "I want to win Group N (production class). That has to be the target," Crocker said. "There are quite a few good foreign drivers so the pace will be incredibly quick. But no-one is fast on every stage so we'll aim to be quick and consistent." "I've got to beat Cody. If I can do that we should have a shot at the production class win," said Bates. "I also think it's fantastic to have Rally Australia back, and to have it on the east coast for the first time. It was a fantastic event in Perth, but the reality is that the east coast is where all the people live and this should give a huge boost to Australian rallying."

REPCO RALLY AUSTRALIA

Production car testing (unofficial times) 1. Neal Bates, Toyota Corolla, 1:49.1 2. Evyind Brynildsson, Mitsubishi Lancer, 1:50.17 3. Eli Evans, Subaru Impreza, 1:50.8 4. Toshi Arai, Subaru Impreza, 1:51.3 5. Cody Crocker, Subaru Impreza, 1:51.5