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Five Star FG Falcon at Jarvis Ford
The all-new FG Falcon has become the first Australian-built car to receive a 5 (five) star rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP). The petrol FG Falcon sedan range was awarded the maximum 5 (five) star safety rating rating with a total score of 34.6 points (out of a possible 37 points), giving it the highest score ever recorded by a locally produced car in Australia by a significant margin. Read more>
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Bates takes Queensland thriller |
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 22/6/2008
Team TRD Rally boss Neal Bates has secured his third consecutive outright win in the 2008 Australian Rally Championship (ARC) following a dramatic win at Rally Queensland that was only decided after the final stage by the bonus point for most stage wins.
Bates held a 9.9s lead over the Subaru of nearest rival Eli Evans heading into the event's final two stages, only to suffer a puncture on the penultimate stage of the rally.
The three-time Australian champion dropped more than 40s and fell to third for the heat, elevating Evans to the lead and fellow Subaru driver Michael Guest to second.
Heading into the final stage, the 35 kilometre-long, torturous and aptly named, Phat Lady, Evans needed only to set the fastest time to take his first ARC outright win.
However, Guest prevailed and prevented the younger brother of Toyota's two-time champion, Simon Evans from snatching the bonus point that went to Bates, breaking the deadlock between the pair and giving the Toyota driver the overall win.
Young Toyota privateer Glen Raymond finished fifth for Heat 2 in his Group N (P) Corolla, a position he inherited on the final stage from fellow Toyota driver Stewart Reid who unfortunately failed to complete the final section of his home event.
The ARC takes a short break before returning in South Australia for round three of the championship, the Rally SA on 26-27 July.
Neal Bates, Car #2 - Toyota Corolla S2000:
"We have had a dream year so far and I couldn't be happier with the result. Eli (Evans) and (Michael) Guest drove incredibly well and in the end it was a very tense finish. A lot of people thought we had it in the bag with three stages to go, but we had a puncture and all of a sudden we were in strife. We kept pushing and recovered and thankfully got away with it. It was so close that Coral and I weren't even sure we had won, so it was a nice surprise when we found out. Queensland is the roughest rally in the championship and our Corolla was just so strong. It handled jumps, rocky creek beds and some roads that were so hard they cracked the windscreen. It is also a testament to the Corolla that Simon and Sue suffered nothing more than a few bruises from what was a very big accident yesterday. Overall it was a very tough weekend on a lot of levels and this result is just reward for the team's efforts."
Australian Rally Championship
Rally Queensland
Heat 1 - Final Results:
1) Neal Bates Toyota Corolla S2000 1h14m43.7s
2) Michael Guest Subaru Impreza WRX +1m07.8s
3) Eli Evans Subaru Impreza WRX +1m20.9s
4) Stewart Reid Toyota Corolla Group N (P) +1m46.8s
5) Nathan Quinn Mitsubishi Lancer EVO +2m15.8s
6) Spencer Lowndes Mitsubishi Lancer EVO +2m30.9s
Australian Rally Championship
Rally Queensland
Heat 2 - Final Results:
1) Eli Evans Subaru Impreza WRX 1h12m34.4s
2) Michael Guest Subaru Impreza WRX +18.7s
3) Neal Bates Toyota Corolla S2000 38m40.9s +38.2s
4) Spencer Lowndes Mitsubishi Lancer EVO +53.8s
5) Glen Raymond Toyota Corolla Group N (P) +1m37.2s
6) Nathan Quinn, Mitsubishi Lancer EVO +2m08.2s
Australian Rally Championship
Rally Queensland
Overall Results:
1) Neal Bates Toyota Corolla S2000
2) Eli Evans Subaru Impreza WRX
3) Michael Guest Subaru Impreza WRX
4) Spencer Lowndes Mitsubishi Lancer EVO
5) Anthony Quinn Mitsubishi Lancer EVO
=6) Glen Raymond Toyota Group N (P) Corolla
=6) Ryan Smart Mitsubishi Lancer EVO
Australian Rally Championship
Championship Points after Round 3:
1) Neal Bates Toyota Corolla S2000 - 219 points
2) Eli Evans Subaru Impreza WRX - 156
3) Spencer Lowndes Mitsubishi Lancer EVO - 132
4) Michael Guest Subaru Impreza WRX - 123
5) Simon Evans Toyota Corolla S2000 - 112
6) Darren Windus Ford Fiesta S2000 - 96 |
Industry News
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Toyota first to export 100,000 cars |
19/12/2008
Toyota Australia is set to become the first Australian carmaker to export 100,000 vehicles in a calendar year.
The milestone car is due to be shipped from Melbourne on Christmas Eve, bound for the Middle East.
It will be among more than 2,100 Australian-built Toyota cars leaving Australia that day aboard the Positive Leader. |
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