Tony Bates is the 2009 Commodore Cup national series runner-up, following his fourth-consecutive second-place finish in the final round of the series at Sandown on the weekend.
After qualifying seventh for the round, which was presented by Bates’s company Alternative Freight Services, Tony moved up to fifth in Race 1 before taking his fourth race win of the season in Race 2. Fourth in Race 3 capped off a strong season, Bates finishing just 23 points behind Brett Holdsworth in the final standings.
“Overall, this has been my best season yet,” Tony said. “It’s the first time I’ve been in a position to genuinely contend for race wins, so I have really enjoyed this season.
“When you look at the final points margin, there were probably a few incidents throughout the year that cost me the title, inparticular the drive-through penalty in Race 2 at Winton.
“We struggled with engine issues all throughout the year, but we did some testing and discovered a faulty fuel sensor before Sandown. It turns out the engine was running too rich, which was why the car wasn’t responsive out of corners. Once we fixed the problem, the car was a lot better. If only I'de had the car I had at Sandown all year.
“The thing that I really need to work on is qualifying. In the races, I’m just as fast if not faster than everyone else, but qualifying is letting me down.
“The racing has been competitive and fun, and the category is going from strength to strength at the moment. I will definitely be back next year to have another crack at winning the title,” Bates concluded.
Practice
Tony was fifth-fastest in practice behind Marcus Zukanovic, Nick Parker, Scott Andrews and Josh Hughes.
“We’re going to make some changes to the car setup, because it is oversteering a bit too much,” Tony reported. “But overall, the car is performing a lot better than it was before and I’m a lot happier with its acceleration out of corners.”
Qualifying
The qualifying format for Sandown featured one 20-minute session and a single-lap shootout for the top-10 cars from the session.
Tony set the seventh-fastest time in the 20-minute session and held onto seventh in the shootout.
“The car was running a bit rich in those sessions, and I probably wasn’t driving as quickly as I needed to, but we’re looking good for the races,” he said.
Race 1
Tony made a characteristically great start and overtook Josh Hughes and Scott Andrews to move up to fifth by Turn 1.
At the end of the lap, he had a scary moment with Marcus Zukanovic heading into the last two corners.
On the second lap, Bates ran wide at Dandenong Road Corner and dropped to eighth.
“I was trying to heel-and-toe, but my foot got caught under the pedal and I couldn’t pull the car up properly,” he said. Tony dropped to eighth and the safety-car was deployed for a separate incident involving Matt Chick.
“On the back straight, Marcus was driving along at walking pace while the top three cars all drove away. None of us could overtake Marcus until he actually pulled off the track, because we didn’t want to get penalised for overtaking under the safety car. Fortunately, the officials allowed us to catch back up to Domaschenz, Holdsworth and Parker before they restarted the race.
At the restart, Tony overtook Scott Andrews straight away and then overtook Dean Crosswell on the second last lap to finish the race in fifth position.
Race 2
Tony started sixth for the top-10 reverse-grid race, and made a great start, moving up to third by the first corner. On lap three, he overtook Phil Brock but was overtaken by Jason Domaschenz to hold onto third place.
At the beginning of the fifth lap, Domaschenz tangled with Ross McGregor while trying to overtake him, and Tony took advantage and dived thru on the inside to charge into the race lead.
As it turned out, it was a perfectly-timed passing move, because the safety-car was again deployed for an incident involving Matt Chick, and the race ultimately finished under safety-car conditions.
Race 3
Tony Bates’s Race 2 win gave him a front-row starting slot alongside Jason Domaschenz for the final.
Off the start, Tony made a good initial jump, but his car became sluggish as soon as he shifted into second gear. We think the cluth slipped and as I pulled 2nd gear I had no response, costing me the chance to jump to the lead.
“It was weird, almost as if I shifted into fourth, but I definitely didn’t, because the revs eventually came up and I was able to shift up to third,” he said.
The starting problems allowed both Holdsworth and Parker to overtake Bates, but Tony soon recaptured the position from Holdsworth.
In the closing laps, Tony caught Nick Parker but ran out of time to overtake him before the chequered flag.
“Another lap, and I would have had Nick,” he said.
Tony Bates is proudly supported by Alternative Freight Services, W.A. Freight Group and Bryant and Bryant Chartered Accountants. The 2009 Commodore Cup livery is designed by Tim Pattinson Design in conjunction with Chequered Flag Media.
Round Results Summary – Tony Bates
Qualifying: 7th
Race 1: 5th
Race 2: 1st
Race 3: 4th
Overall: 2nd (124 points)
Commodore Cup national series – top 10 pointscore (final points):
1. Brett Holdsworth – 770 points
2. Tony Bates – 747 points
3. Nick Parker – 713 points
4. Ross McGregor – 618 points
5. Josh Hughes – 576 points
6. Jason Domaschenz – 571 points
7. Adam Lloyd – 472 points
8. Jeff Watters – 457 points
9. Phillip Menzel – 454 points
10. Chris Stevenson – 439 points |
