Bates taught 'brutal' lesson after getting roughed up on debut

Zach Bates might only be one event into his full-time Supercars career, but he already knows that there is plenty of work to be done to maximise the potential shown at Round 1 in Sydney.

He also knows that Matt Stone Racing's form guide presents a golden opportunity to make an even bigger mark than the one he made little more than a week ago.

A sixth and two eighths in his first three qualifying attempts as a full-timer was mightily impressive, however when it came to race trim, inexperience shone through.

First, Brodie Kostecki escorted him wide in the early running in the opening sprint of the season, before a tardy start left him vulnerable to a rampaging pack in the second race of the year.

Whilst Sunday was a much more solid outing, Bates still lost ground, with the 2024 Super2 champion unable to secure a top 10 finish.

However, of the five rookies who made their full-time debuts in Sydney, it was the 21-year-old who scored the most points at the opening round.

After voicing his displeasure with Kostecki following the opening race of the season, Bates admitted that across the balance of the weekend it was tyre life that proved his biggest challenge.

"It was a fantastic start for MSR and the Bendix car. The qualifying was really strong and the team did a great job in giving me a car that was able to do that," Bates told Supercars.com.

"The races probably weren't as good, just trying to get up to speed with looking after the tyre and everything like that.

"It's obviously a very high deg circuit, so If you didn't look after the tyre it exacerbated your problem, so in one way it was brutal but in the other way it's also taught me a good lesson so which I'll take forward."

This weekend will provide another big challenge, as for the first time he will compete at Albert Park, having never done so in his junior career.

However, while the track is unfamiliar, the format of the racing is the most similar format to the 40 minute timed races utilised throughout the DUNLOP Super2 Series, with three 105km sprints and an 80km finale on Sunday.

The 2024 Super2 champion, Canberran believes that the mindset and racecraft required to succeed in the DUNLOP Series will be an advantage in race conditions, even if the quality of the field is a sizeable increase.

"I haven't really thought of it like that, but I suppose Super2 probably thinking of it now, it probably does relate more," Bates said.

"In Super2 you really want to get all your passing moves done quickly because it's hard to pass once you get into a train, and because everyone is on the same tyre strategy it makes it even harder to pass.

"So you do understand when you watch the AGP races why the racing is so full on, because everyone's trying to get it done super early because they don't have a pitstop to try and undercut or overcut people.

"Look, I'm not sure if I've got any gain because I've come out of Super2. I think everyone's a pretty good race car driver but yeah, I suppose it's closer to what I know."

So that brings us to the question of what Matt Stone Racing are capable of this weekend in Melbourne, having claimed two wins in the past two years, including a memorable 1-2 finish last year.

Sydney hasn't traditionally been the strongest venue for the team, however both Bates and veteran teammate Jack Le Brocq were impressive, the latter starring in race trim.

Le Brocq enters the weekend seventh in points, whilst Bates was one of seven to qualify inside the top 10 for all three races in Sydney. Is this a sign that they're a force to be reckoned with once again?

Bates was level in his response, but knows that history is pointing towards this being his best chance he's had at bursting onto the podium in his short Supercars career.

"It's only early days for me but they've been incredibly strong over the last few years," Bates said.

"Of course, things have changed in the series, but there's no denying that they have a fantastic track record there so I'll be looking to try and get the best result as I can, as I do every single weekend.

"Is there any other pressure? Look, it's very, very early in my full-time Supercars career, but I suppose it's a good opportunity for me. That's that's all I can say."

Track action in Melbourne begins with a packed Thursday schedule with two practice sessions, back-to-back Boost Mobile Qualifying sessions, and Race 4 of the 2026 season.