Toyota has clinched the Manufacturers’ Championship title in the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) after the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia Rally Team took a 1-2 victory in the penultimate round in Adelaide over the weekend.
Lewis Bates and co-driver Anthony Mcloughlin took the win in the Adelaide Hills Rally ahead of teammates Harry Bates and Coral Taylor to win the Manufacturer’s title for Toyota.
Vin Naidoo, chief marketing officer of Toyota Australia, commended the Bates brothers and their co-drivers, as well as the whole team at Neal Bates Motorsport that runs the TGRA ARC campaign.
“We were always confident that the GR Yaris AP4 was a championship-winning car and much of that credit goes to Neal Bates and his team for taking what was a superb platform to start with, and building it into an outstanding race car,” Naidoo said.
In the 2023 ARC season’s final round set to be held from 18 to 19 November, the Bates brothers will compete for the driver’s championship title, with reigning champion Lewis going into the season closer, just 23 points ahead of Harry.
“I’d like to thank and congratulate the whole team – and especially Lewis, Harry, Anthony and Coral – on delivering winning results, round after round, that has enabled us to win the 2023 ARC Manufacturers’ Championship,” Naidoo said. “And just like last year, I’m looking forward to a final thrilling battle between the two drivers and co-drivers next month in Canberra to see who takes the flag in the driver’s and co-driver’s championship,” he added,
Since the rollout of the Toyota Yaris AP4 rally car in 2018 and the GR Yaris AP4 in 2021, Toyota has so far won three manufacturers’ ARC titles in 2019, 2022, and 2023.
The victory of the 2023 ARC Manufacturers’ title follows Toyota’s Manufacturers’ Championship win in the World Rally Championship after a strong finish in the Rally Chile earlier in October.
