'Target on your back': Bates unsurprised by brutal initiation

As he tightened his seatbelts for the first race at Queensland Raceway, Zach Bates knew he was in for a rough ride.

However, as Bates got out of his Triple Eight wildcard Chevrolet after the finale, he had been emphatically vindicated, perhaps in the most dramatic way possible without crashing out.

The second-generation driver raised eyebrows on debut at Queensland Raceway last month, reaching the Sunday Shootout before being boxed around the ears in the race.

Racing with Craig Lowndes at The Bend and Bathurst could deliver Bates a shock result or two in the Ryco Enduro Cup, having survived a weekend surrounded by Supercars' best in his debut.

Few could have expected just how close to the action (and controversy) Bates would be in Ipswich, having been clattered twice down the pit straight by fellow Canberran Cameron Hill, before being turfed off by Nick Percat.

Such was the fallout of the Hill clash, that reigning champion Will Brown and Anton De Pasquale suggested harsher penalties be awarded for deliberate clashes.

Speaking on The Formation Lap, Bates insisted he expected to be roughed up, but admitted that comes with starting in the middle of the pack anyway.

“Watching this year from afar, it’s been pretty loose,” Bates said.

“I had a lot of expectations of everyone being not very nice. As a wildcard, you definitely have a bigger target on your back.

“It was full-on, but at the same time, most of the guys you’re racing are also intelligent, compared to who I’ve raced in the past.

“It was just about learning how the races flow, but when you’re starting mid-pack at the start, you can’t avoid it, so I was trying to navigate it as best I could.”

Lowndes liked what he saw in Bates, writing in his upcoming column that the youngster was well aware of what he was getting into.

"He got a great feel for what the competition's all about, and he showed everyone that he's mentally strong," Lowndes wrote.

"I give him a lot of credit because to be able to do double duties at Queensland Raceway with Super2. He was mentally able to switch on and off between the two cars and who he was racing, which was fantastic.

"To rub shoulders with people that you look up to is a challenge. I remember him making a comment that he was starting alongside Brodie Kostecki, and he was excited yet nervous.

"To have that initiation at Queensland Raceway, as tough as it was, definitely puts him in a good head space for Bathurst."

Bates and Lowndes will get behind the wheel of their Camaro from Friday at The Bend.