Zach Bates stunned in his wildcard debut with Triple Eight last year. Now given a full-time opportunity in a race-winning team, can the 2024 Super2 champion show his talents?
Zach Bates gets his first shot in a full-time Supercars ride in 2026, off the back of a mighty string of performances in Triple Eight's wildcard last year, driving the #10 Bendix Camaro for Matt Stone Racing.
Making his debut in Ipswich, Bates turned heads by qualifying a provisional third on Sunday, before backing it up with fifth in the Top Ten Shootout, leading those on used tyres.
Bates also had the honour of being Craig Lowndes' final Triple Eight co-driver, and finished 10th in his first Bathurst start on a day where stablemates Broc Feeney and Will Brown both crashed.
The Canberran signed his Triple Eight deal just weeks before he claimed the 2024 Super2 Series with Walkinshaw Andretti United, beating Aaron Cameron in a last-race showdown.
Bates, the son of rally driver Rick Bates and the nephew of multiple Australian champion Neal Bates, began his racing career in karts at age 10, and won the Formula Ford title in 2021.
Following his Formula Ford success, Bates shifted to Toyota 86 and won nine races in 2021, including eight in a row. In 2022, he won seven of 15 races.
He then shifted to Super2 in 2023 with WAU alongside Ryan Wood, and built into his rookie season as the year wore on, claiming a maiden round podium at Bathurst
Bates joined the likes of Broc Feeney, Declan Fraser, Zane Goddard and Cooper Murray in driving the Triple Eight wildcard, and converted his chance into a full-time ride with MSR.