Revered rally co-driver Coral Taylor is in rarefied air after securing her sixth Australian Rally Championship alongside Toyota GAZOO Racing Australia’s Harry Bates.
Bates and Taylor secured back-to-back titles in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 at the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania.
Taylor overtakes Possum Bourne’s long-time co-driver Craig Vincent’s five titles to own the record.
Starting her career alongside father Norm Fritter in the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial at the age of 18, Taylor achieved title success when she linked up with Canberra-based rally driver Neal Bates, father of Harry.
As part of the factory-backed Toyota team of the mid-1990s in the legendary Celica GT-Four, Bates and Taylor secured a hat-trick of titles from 1993-1995 before the advent of Subaru led by Bourne dominated the ARC.
There were international opportunities in addition to Australian commitments for Bates and Taylor thanks to the strong links to World Rally Championship team Toyota Team Europe when the Corolla arrived.
Also, Bates and Taylor won Targa Tasmania outright in 1995 in addition to class winning efforts as the millennium approached.
It wasn’t until the introduction of the Toyota Corolla S2000 in 2008 when Bates and Taylor tasted title success again.
Reverting to historic rallying alongside proved a lead in when the next generation of Bates required a co-driver at the beginning of season 2023.
It’s been a successful partnership as Harry alongside Taylor has secured back-to-back titles and now is starting to receive further international opportunities just like his father did more than 25-years ago.
Of course, Taylor’s daughter Molly is a successful rally driver in her own right after winning the 2016 ARC title and Extreme E in 2021.