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The Motorsport Brief: Harry Bates bound for Japan · Rusty's Garage

• 0:02
  A listener production.
• 0:04
  Welcome to the Motorsport Brief.
• 0:06
  Today's a bonus ep as we celebrate an Aussie champion about to head off and compete on the international stage.
• 0:15
  G'day everybody, Rusty here.
• 0:16
  Welcome to a special edition of the Rusty's Garage Shortcast, being done in collaboration with the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship.
• 0:24
  So you'll also be able to watch this on their official YouTube channel and social platforms.
• 0:29
  Now, we wanted to catch up with series leader and reigning champion Harry Bates for this one, who's been on the pod before when he wrapped up the 2023 title.
• 0:38
  He is about to embark on an exciting adventure, and he gets to take his favourite set of wheels too.
• 0:44
  Hello, mate.
• 0:45
  Welcome back to the garage.
• 0:47
  Hello.
• 0:47
  Thanks for having me on, Rusty.
• 0:49
  Tell us about this.
• 0:50
  You are literally about to jump on the plane to head to Japan, all as a part of Rally Hokkaido.
• 0:57
  How did this all come about?
• 0:59
  Yeah, that's right.
• 1:00
  Incredible opportunity for me to do some rallying on the other side of the world.
• 1:04
  And it feels very special to be given the opportunity.
• 1:08
  Really, it all came about because Toyota Japan or the Toyota Gazoo Racing based out of Japan were very keen to do a round of the Australian Rally Championship.
• 1:16
  And we saw the first part of this collaboration happen at the recent Rally Gippsland where a young driver by the name of Nao Atake competed in his GR Yaris that they actually brought over from Japan.
• 1:27
  And he did very well, finished up third in the production cup part of the Australian Rally Championship, which was a great result for them.
• 1:33
  And then the second part of this deal or this collaboration is for us to head over there and for me to compete in the Rally Hokkaido.
• 1:40
  I think this has been badged by them as a kind of mutual exchange program.
• 1:45
  Is this the kind of thing they're doing in other places around the world or are you pioneering this opportunity?
• 1:51
  Yeah, we're really like the pilot.
• 1:52
  So it's something that Japan came to Australia about almost 12 months ago, actually.
• 1:58
  So the conversations have been happening for some time and they're very, very keen for, I guess, what they're doing with kazoo racing to be seen as far more than something in each individual region, but as something more of a global partnerships and something that they can do on a broader scale.
• 2:15
  For me, I guess the big benefit is I get that international experience.
• 2:18
  I'm able to go and do a really famous rally in Hokkaido.
• 2:21
  And yeah, it's a great opportunity for my career and for the whole team here at Neil Base Motorsport.
• 2:27
  It's a pretty cool thing and we're looking forward to it.
• 2:31
  In the same breath, it was really good for the Australian Championship to have now Otake there at the Gippsland round of the championship.
• 2:38
  Bit of work, though, for the Neil Bates motorsport team in the lead up.
• 2:42
  Unfortunately, the Aussie roads kind of bit hard in the days beforehand.
• 2:48
  But the way he rebounded in the event itself, I thought, was tremendous.
• 2:52
  I mean, you talked about top three results in Production Cup.
• 2:54
  He did a super job.
• 2:56
  Yeah, that's right.
• 2:56
  Yeah, their event didn't start well.
• 2:59
  Now had an off on his very first run at testing at the pre-event test.
• 3:02
  So it was actually really nice in some ways to watch the Japanese team and our team here at Neil Bates Motorsport work together to get that car going for the event.
• 3:12
  And I think the...
• 3:14
  the Japanese guys really felt the hospitality from our side there, which was a nice thing for everyone who was involved.
• 3:21
  And as you mentioned, now then went on to get some really good results in the events.
• 3:24
  On the Sunday in particular, on the tighter stages, which probably suited his Yaris more, he was actually getting close to Molly Taylor on stages, which was great not only for him, but also for the likes of Molly and Bodie Reading, the sort of front runners in our production cup here.
• 3:40
  I think it was really good to have someone from overseas keeping them honest.
• 3:44
  So even though he didn't have the ultimate pace, let's say, that Molly had, to see what he was doing with stage times by Sunday afternoon, it was really, really good.
• 3:54
  And it was sort of a nice result all round for everyone involved.
• 3:59
  From our team, we got a 1-2 in the outright sort of section of the Australian Championship.
• 4:04
  And then to have our Japanese teammates get third in the Production Cup, it was a pretty cool feeling.
• 4:09
  Yeah.
• 4:09
  Right, let's get to your mission.
• 4:11
  How good?
• 4:12
  Firstly, I mean, Japan has a great spot on the WRC calendar, for example.
• 4:18
  People look forward to the Japanese event, the Japanese roads and so on.
• 4:22
  What have we done preparation-wise?
• 4:24
  What can we expect in this event?
• 4:27
  And how – I'll come to the entry list in a moment because there are some good names on there.
• 4:31
  How tough are you expecting this whole thing to be?
• 4:35
  I think it'll be pretty tough.
• 4:36
  I mean, it's obviously a part of the world I've never been to.
• 4:39
  So all new roads for me.
• 4:40
  The roads look very fast and narrow, which is typically the sort of roads I like.
• 4:44
  So I'm quite excited about what I see when I review last year's onboards and things.
• 4:49
  And
• 4:49
  Part of the collaboration actually between us and Japan is that we provided now with all of the data and onboard he needed to prepare for the Rally Gippsland that he competed in a few weeks ago and he's been able to provide me with same.
• 5:03
  So I've done a fair bit of homework already at this point, still got a few days of homework left before I jet off to Japan.
• 5:10
  But the other benefit I've got is the likes of Chris Ackerton, Cody Crocker, Anthony McLaughlin, my brother's co-driver and teammate,
• 5:19
  So those guys have all competed in Hokkaido before.
• 5:22
  They've got lots of experience on those roads.
• 5:23
  So I've just been able to have little conversations here and there and get a few tips from them.
• 5:29
  So I'm feeling as ready as I can be, but I'm sure it'll be a big challenge.
• 5:33
  Just on that entry list,
• 5:35
  Hekikova Linen, winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
• 5:39
  He was in Formula One from, I think, 2007 to 2013.
• 5:42
  He's in there.
• 5:44
  That's really cool.
• 5:46
  Fans that have perhaps seen some of the competition around the Asia-Pacific Championship will remember Toshi Arai.
• 5:52
  I think he's on the list as well.
• 5:53
  It's going to be terrific.
• 5:55
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 5:56
  It's pretty cool.
• 5:57
  I'm actually seated right near Hecci Kovaleinen on the road, so I'm sure I'll get plenty of opportunities to chat to him throughout the event.
• 6:03
  And to be honest, that's one of the coolest things about rallying is when you come up against guys like Hecci Kovaleinen or, you know, I've competed against Shane Van Giesbergen in the past as well.
• 6:12
  It actually gives you two or three days to get to know that person pretty well, because you end up stopping next to each other on the road quite a lot to do tire pressures and things.
• 6:21
  And quite often in rallying, you've got 20 or 30 minutes in the middle of nowhere.
• 6:24
  And
• 6:25
  There's nothing to do other than to just chat.
• 6:27
  So I'm pretty excited about that.
• 6:29
  Toshi Arai, you mentioned, he'll obviously be very quick, but his son, Hiroki Arai, is actually seeded first.
• 6:36
  And I think Hiroki is sort of the guy to beat over there.
• 6:39
  He's got a lot of experience competing overseas and he's a similar age to what I am.
• 6:43
  So I'm probably most looking forward to competing against Hiroki Arai.
• 6:47
  Let's talk about something the purest rally fans will love, right?
• 6:52
  So the legend, Juhar Kankinen is going to be there doing some running in a Celica ST185.
• 7:00
  I mean, that is a very cool machine with some wonderful history in the sport.
• 7:06
  Oh, absolutely.
• 7:07
  And look, you've got to hand it to the Japanese guys.
• 7:09
  Every single event they do, they get behind it by bringing out an ex-superstar or old rally cars to put on displays for the crowds.
• 7:17
  And that sort of thing really draws the big crowds.
• 7:20
  So it's very cool to see that they're bringing Juha over from Finland and that they're putting him in his championship winning ST-185 from back in the day.
• 7:28
  Yeah.
• 7:30
  It'll obviously be cool.
• 7:31
  Hopefully I get to see it.
• 7:32
  I mean, it's one of those things when you're in the event, you don't always get to see these things.
• 7:36
  But it would be really cool to just go up and have a watch of him going around.
• 7:41
  And I'm sure he hasn't lost anything.
• 7:43
  He's actually, funnily enough, someone that Coral, my now co-driver, has competed a lot against back in the day.
• 7:49
  So, yeah, he'll be there doing display laps and Coral will be there co-driving for me.
• 7:54
  Now, speaking of superstars, I'm glad you brought up Coral.
• 7:57
  She is thrilled about the opportunity, not just from a competition standpoint, from a cultural standpoint.
• 8:04
  I think she's really looking forward to going there.
• 8:07
  What about others from the Neil Bates motorsport family that might come up and help you in this process?
• 8:12
  I've got to say that the whole cultural thing, Coral, is not a fan at all of any foods outside the window.
• 8:20
  I was being facetious.
• 8:21
  Yes.
• 8:21
  She's very, very nervous.
• 8:23
  She actually rang me the other day and said that she's legitimately going to pack baked beans so that if, worst case scenario, she can just have baked beans on toast for dinner, breakfast, lunch, whatever.
• 8:33
  But I've also got Dad coming over, you know.
• 8:37
  I'm very lucky to have someone like him in my corner who can attend these sorts of events with me because his experience definitely counts for a lot.
• 8:44
  And that sort of advice is really helpful.
• 8:47
  We've got Sam, my head mechanic, coming over as well.
• 8:50
  And then Thomas Barrett, a guy who lives here in Canberra, who's actually Sam, my head mechanic's uncle, is also coming over.
• 8:58
  He has done a lot of Rally Hokkaidos as a mechanic before, so we sort of...
• 9:03
  managed to get him and convince him that he shall come along for the trip too.
• 9:06
  And then my wife, Hayley's also coming.
• 9:09
  Excellent.
• 9:09
  Now, has this, when the diary, when the schedule permits, inspired you to do maybe a little something extra on the calendar each year?
• 9:19
  You mentioned Shane Van Gisbergen before.
• 9:20
  I mean, you came to New Zealand.
• 9:22
  You took part on a kind of special mission basis in the WRC event over there a couple of years back.
• 9:28
  Are there other things that you might like to challenge yourself with,
• 9:33
  To be honest, I really hope that this opportunity in Japan does lead to more opportunities over in that part of the world.
• 9:39
  Good.
• 9:39
  I see it as a cool way to do a few more rallies a year.
• 9:44
  So that's probably one of the goals.
• 9:46
  Of course, you know, the Australian Rally Championship is always going to be my priority.
• 9:51
  That's what I'm contracted to do, and it always ends up being my focus each year.
• 9:55
  But at the same time, it's only six or seven rallies and...
• 10:01
  there's sometimes big gaps between events where I really would love to be in a car more.
• 10:05
  So I am always keeping an eye out for those opportunities.
• 10:08
  And already I'm having a few conversations about what extra things I might be able to do in 2025.
• 10:14
  So even if just one or two of those come off, that would be a great thing.
• 10:19
  And if you look at the depth of the Australian Rally Championship now,
• 10:23
  it's probably becoming more and more important to be in a car.
• 10:27
  It's not easy to win anymore.
• 10:29
  It's really difficult to turn up with limited time in a car and do well.
• 10:34
  So certainly one of my goals to sort of, I guess, keep the edge and make sure that I'm still fighting for wins all the time is to be in a car more.
• 10:43
  I want to come back to the state of play in a moment and we'll get your overarching view on the championship because I think it's in great shape at the moment, as you say, fiercely competitive.
• 10:52
  Just to sort of keep on that note, don't give too much away there, Harry, but I mean, are you leaning towards like an Asia-Pacific thing?
• 10:59
  You maybe want to do what a Hayden Patton is doing and look at European championship?
• 11:03
  It sounds from your answer like it's a bit more Asian-focused perhaps.
• 11:08
  Yeah, true.
• 11:09
  More Asian focused, I think.
• 11:11
  I look at what Hayden's doing and the European Rally Championship is an incredible championship, something that I would love to do.
• 11:18
  But the budget's a little bit out of reach for me at this point, I suppose.
• 11:22
  And I don't see that changing in the immediate future.
• 11:24
  So I look at this Japan opportunity as maybe a
• 11:28
  a sort of segue into that part of the world and trying to do more rallying outside Australia.
• 11:34
  Because like I say, I love the Australian Rally Championship and I think that what we have here is an incredible championship with a great variety of roads and surfaces.
• 11:43
  And I think it sets you up really well to go and compete overseas.
• 11:46
  Good stuff.
• 11:47
  We hope that happens for you and we'll watch that space closely.
• 11:49
  There was a rumour at the beginning of the year that Hayden Patton, if he could stitch it together, might come and play in the Australian Championship or even selected rounds of the Australian Championship.
• 11:59
  Would you welcome that or even the chance to maybe take this new rally two-car to New Zealand at some point and tackle a daybreaker or a Southern Lights rally like your friend Molly Taylor did recently?
• 12:10
  Yeah.
• 12:10
  Oh, absolutely.
• 12:12
  Hayden did Coffs Harbour 2022 and it was amazing to have him in the Australian Rally Championship because he brings a whole new level.
• 12:22
  I mean, he's the best driver from this part of the world, hands down.
• 12:26
  He really represents us sort of Southern Hemisphere people really, really well in whatever he does.
• 12:32
  And having the opportunity to go up against him means that we have to find a new level as well.
• 12:38
  I would welcome him to come here any rally, any time.
• 12:42
  It would be really, really cool for not only myself and my other competitors, but also for the fans here in Australia.
• 12:49
  At the same time, for sure, I'd love to go over to New Zealand.
• 12:52
  I haven't been able to really make it happen other than for the WRC a couple of years ago that you mentioned earlier.
• 12:57
  So...
• 12:59
  Definitely there's a few rallies on my bucket list like Otago that I'd love to go and do one day.
• 13:04
  And I had Murph bugging me actually at the last supercars round to get over and do Otago, you know.
• 13:10
  So one day for sure I'm going to make it happen and we just need to see if the calendars can line up.
• 13:15
  Well, you'll be happy to know I've spoken to him in just the last little while before doing this chat with you and his words were, he's got to come, he's got to come to New Zealand.
• 13:25
  So I know the urgency you're talking about.
• 13:27
  Now, you've shared on social media, you're about to jet out, but that beautiful new rally car of yours, that other baby of yours, has already been put on the plane and sent over there.
• 13:37
  So...
• 13:38
  This logistically means for the next round of the Australian Championship in SA in South Australia, the Adelaide Hills Rally, which is on September 13 to 15, that you, by the sounds of it, have to switch cars.
• 13:52
  So just tell people a little bit about that.
• 13:54
  Are you which car in the Neil Bates Motorsport?
• 13:59
  kind of recent history will you be at the wheel of?
• 14:02
  And I don't imagine that your brother Lewis is going to hand over the keys to his new car real easily.
• 14:07
  So you're probably going to the AP4, are you?
• 14:10
  Yeah, that's right.
• 14:11
  So the Rally 2 car has been shipped off to Japan.
• 14:14
  So the car that I've done every rally so far this year in is gone.
• 14:18
  And then straight after Japan, I actually go to round five of the Australian Rally Championship in Adelaide.
• 14:23
  They're on back-to-back weekends.
• 14:24
  So there was no chance that that car could get back to Australia in time.
• 14:29
  So then I needed to find another car.
• 14:32
  So fortunately, we've still got my 2023 championship winning car.
• 14:36
  GRS AP4 here in the workshop.
• 14:38
  So we're bringing it out of retirement and it'll be what I do, the Adelaide Hills Rally in.
• 14:44
  So there was some trepidation, I guess, about the whole idea because I'm not in the latest machinery then for Adelaide and we've got an Australian Rally Championship to think about.
• 14:53
  But honestly, I think that car is going to be just fine in terms of pace.
• 14:59
  I'm not freaking out at all.
• 15:00
  If anything,
• 15:02
  When I look at the Rally 2 car versus the AP4 car, the fast roads of Adelaide are probably most suited to the AP4 car.
• 15:08
  So if there was going to be one rally where I'd choose to do in the AP4 car, it would probably be Adelaide.
• 15:14
  That's a good piece of intel worth bearing in mind, right?
• 15:20
  Talk about the switch between the cars.
• 15:22
  What does the new machine do differently to that old car?
• 15:26
  And is there a little bit of a side of the pace you've perhaps talked about or maybe it's suitability around those Adelaide Hills roads?
• 15:33
  What other things do you have to be a little mindful of when you step behind the wheel of it?
• 15:38
  The Rally 2 car has more suspension travel than the AP4 car.
• 15:42
  That's really the big thing that the Rally 2 car brings to the table.
• 15:46
  And so when you're at a rough rally like Queensland or Canberra, I do think the Rally 2 car is always going to have a sort of inherent advantage because it just rides the rough road so well.
• 15:58
  If you look at a rally like Adelaide where...
• 16:01
  majority of the stages are like tarmac.
• 16:03
  I mean, it is a gravel rally, but they're so smooth, so fast.
• 16:08
  The AP4 cars, sort of the advantage that the Rally 2 car has, I guess, is gone in terms of the suspension travel and riding the rough.
• 16:17
  So if you then look at what those roads bring, you need confidence in the car.
• 16:22
  You need to have a really, really...
• 16:25
  understanding of how much grip you've got underneath you.
• 16:27
  And that's really everything in Adelaide.
• 16:30
  And if I look at how many rallies I've done in the AP4 versus how many I've done in the rally two, in my mind, I'll have a very good understanding of the car I've got underneath me when I turn up to Adelaide and, and that's sort of the advantage that I'll have going into that event.
• 16:44
  So, you know, it may be that I turn up there and don't have the ultimate pace of Scott Lewis, Eddie Maguire, whatever, but I,
• 16:53
  I don't really see that happening on this occasion.
• 16:57
  I'm hoping we can go there and fight for the win like normal.
• 17:00
  We're going to squeeze a quick break here.
• 17:01
  More with Harry Bates on Rusty's Garage right after this.
• 17:07
  You're listening to The Motorsport Brief, a quick check-in with the Australian rally champion, Harry Bates, before he jets out to Japan to contest Rally Hokkaido.
• 17:17
  Let's get back to the convo now.
• 17:20
  It is the second last round of the championship, though, and I think we touched on this when you came on the desk for the wrap-up show after the last round in Gippsland.
• 17:30
  Do you start to think that way now?
• 17:32
  Because beyond South Australia, it's only Tasmania in November to the race to the finish line, if you like, for the ARC this year.
• 17:39
  Have you got to keep that potential fourth title uppermost in your mind?
• 17:45
  If there's one thing I've learned in my however many years of doing the ARC now, I think this is my ninth or tenth season, it's to never, ever say it's over until it's over.
• 17:56
  Rallying's just, it's a tough sport, and then the ARC's a tough championship.
• 18:00
  So, you know, I've been in this position before where I've had a reasonably commanding lead at the midpoint of the season, and then it's all sort of,
• 18:08
  unfolded in the wrong way for me in the second half of the season.
• 18:11
  So I do need to turn up to both Adelaide and Tassie with full preparation, you know, be very, very on my game.
• 18:19
  If you look at the depth of the next three behind me, Eddie Maguire, Scott Petter, Lewis Bates,
• 18:24
  They've all been really, really quick at the last few events.
• 18:27
  So it's not going to be easy to just go out there and consolidate a championship win.
• 18:34
  There's a lot still to go.
• 18:35
  So the one thing that I'm happy about going into these last two rounds is that we had a strong showing at Gippsland and we turned a very, very slim championship lead into quite a decent championship lead.
• 18:47
  So from that point of view, it's a nice feeling going into this part of the season having that behind me.
• 18:53
  I'm glad you rattled off some of the names there because that naturally leads us to the health of the series at the moment.
• 18:59
  I feel like, without being too close to it, it's in a great phase.
• 19:04
  Adrian Coppin and the team there have done some remarkable things.
• 19:09
  I think the little television package that I work on with Dean Herridge looks terrific.
• 19:14
  And as you rightly point out,
• 19:16
  The Maguires, the re-emergence of Scott Petter, your own brother.
• 19:20
  I mean, it is tough right now, isn't it?
• 19:24
  Absolutely.
• 19:25
  If you look at the start list of any ARC at the moment, anyone in the top 10 could be on the podium at the end of Sunday afternoon.
• 19:31
  And that's a great position for the championship to be in.
• 19:35
  It finally means that if you have a small issue or a spin, then you get absolutely slammed in the stage sort of classification.
• 19:42
  And that's how rallying should be.
• 19:44
  I mean, it shouldn't be that you're able to get a puncture and still walk away with a second place, for example.
• 19:50
  You know, it is tough.
• 19:52
  So yeah,
• 19:52
  to have those guys and that depth there um and you know it's not only that they're there now they've been there for a couple of years but they're now sort of starting to come into their own and i think if you look at season 2025 and season 2026 the next couple of years of the arc then the health of it's looking really good from a competitiveness of the field point of view because they're all learning the events and learning their cars now so
• 20:17
  Yeah, I'm excited about it.
• 20:19
  The name that I didn't mention there just before probably as well was Alex Rulo.
• 20:23
  He had a really unfortunate end to his Gippsland event the last round of the ARC.
• 20:28
  But at the time he was fighting for a podium outright.
• 20:32
  So, you know, to have those guys fighting for those sorts of results is bloody exciting and I think that's...
• 20:40
  Yeah, just to have those names up there fighting for top three stage times every single stage is really cool.
• 20:48
  Alex has made that transition from supercars to rallying in a very short period of time.
• 20:53
  To think of him now as a player for a podium like that, I think, is a really good story.
• 20:56
  Can we quickly get your thoughts on Mainfic's Production Cup?
• 20:59
  You mentioned now Otake there before.
• 21:02
  We know that Molly has overseas commitments from this point in the series, but she's got...
• 21:07
  the lead, the points lead of the championship.
• 21:09
  The question now is, with the way that is structured, can she hold on to that?
• 21:14
  Because people like Bodie and some of the emerging talent in that class have a really good chance in the final few rounds, don't they?
• 21:22
  Yeah, honestly, the production cup's probably been the big surprise of 2024 in terms of how competitive it's been.
• 21:29
  Molly's a class driver in a very good car, and I would have thought she would have been able to just walk away with each win, but she's been challenged at every event now.
• 21:38
  So yeah, Bodie Reading is a very good driver as well.
• 21:42
  His last year's champion and the last round in Tassie where he could potentially overhaul Molly on points is his home rally.
• 21:49
  So
• 21:50
  From here, it's difficult to see how it unfolds, but I think Bodie's the one big chance at beating Molly to the title from here.
• 21:58
  Aidan Peterson's also a Tasmanian local and he's done well in all of the rallies he's done this year in his new Subaru.
• 22:05
  So I think he'll be one to watch for sure.
• 22:08
  But we've also had Ryan Williams turn up to the last couple of events and have some bad luck, but he's another class driver.
• 22:14
  So if you look at those four names,
• 22:18
  I think that not only are we looking at this year's potential Production Cup winner, but you're also looking at four guys and girls who could step up and be outright contenders in the ARC as well in terms of the outright competition.
• 22:30
  And I hope that one day that's what we see.
• 22:33
  Rally.com.au is the place that you go for all of the results, and you can keep an eye on everything from Junior Cup to two-wheel drive, that fantastic new one-make series that Subaru has got off to a terrific start last time out.
• 22:48
  I want to get your thoughts, though, on classics, because we've seen the Thompsons roaring around in some V8-powered Capris.
• 22:56
  We've got that awesome 260Z of Peter Dimmick, among others.
• 22:59
  Do you have...
• 23:00
  A little glance every once in a while at some of the classics in the field, because I sure do.
• 23:05
  Oh, absolutely.
• 23:07
  You know, those cars that you just rattled off, the Datsun 240Z, the V8 Capris, you can hear them coming when they're coming into the service park from miles away.
• 23:17
  They make our modern Rally 2 cars sound boring.
• 23:20
  So it's great to have them there as part of the championship and I know that the spectators absolutely love those cars.
• 23:25
  So, yeah, it's sort of up and down the field at the moment.
• 23:29
  The ARC has got not only good depth but good variety as well.
• 23:32
  So it's a great championship to be a part of.
• 23:34
  You've been awesome with your time there.
• 23:35
  We know how busy you are at Neil Bates Motorsport with the 86 Series, among other things.
• 23:39
  Can I finish with a little thought for you?
• 23:43
  Your cousin, Zach, is doing a brilliant job in the Super 2 Series of supercars.
• 23:47
  Your other cousin, Sam, has kind of had a bit of a breakout in TA2 and so on.
• 23:56
  Can we get an all-Bates line-up wildcard for Bathurst?
• 24:03
  Oh, an all-bates line-up wildcard.
• 24:04
  Are we talking maybe Bathurst Six Hour or something along those lines?
• 24:07
  Well, anything.
• 24:08
  Any Bathurst.
• 24:09
  Any Bathurst.
• 24:09
  It would be cool to do one day.
• 24:12
  Zach's obviously been around the motorsport scene for a while now, and he's doing really well.
• 24:17
  He actually works with Lewis Knight, Neil Bates Motorsport, here now.
• 24:20
  So he's down on the workshop floor helping us out.
• 24:23
  And then Sam, our other cousin, has only started motorsport this year and he's already doing really well.
• 24:29
  So, yeah, it is funny to have all these Bates names around, I guess, in various different categories.
• 24:34
  Very confusing for those who are trying to work out who's who.
• 24:37
  But for sure, it would be awesome to put together a little deal like that.
• 24:40
  Maybe we need to do like, you know, two versus two or something like that.
• 24:46
  That'd be good fun.
• 24:48
  On the broadcast space, we would love to see that one day.
• 24:50
  Good story.
• 24:51
  Hey, nice to catch up with you before you head out to Japan.
• 24:54
  Go well over there.
• 24:55
  Enjoy every moment of that opportunity.
• 24:58
  We know that you will.
• 24:58
  You've earned that.
• 24:59
  And have a fantastic back end of the season in the Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship.
• 25:05
  Thanks, Heves Rusty.
• 25:05
  Hoping to do Australia proud.
• 25:08
  We hope that Harry, Coral and all the team have a fun and successful time there in Japan.
• 25:14
  That's a great opportunity for Harry and he has earned that.
• 25:16
  Wouldn't it be good, as he said, maybe to see him doing more events in Asia in the years ahead.
• 25:23
  That is it for this special edition.
• 25:25
  Keep an eye out too for notifications of the latest episode of Drivers Only as the Supercars drivers take over the garage studio once again.
• 25:35
  They are doing too good a job.
• 25:37
  aren't they?
• 25:37
  They'll do that ahead of the Sandown 500 too.
• 25:39
  For all of our team, it's bye for now.