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Rally of Melbourne marked the end of the 1998 Australian Rally driver’s championships. Whilst most eyes were on the battle up front between Possum Bourne and Neal Bates the most hotly contested battle was being fought between no less than six of Australia’s most talented rally drivers in the F2 (2-wheel drive, normally aspirated, under 2.0 litre) class.

For the Daihatsu team of Rick Bates (ACT) and Jenny Brittan (NSW) last weekends blistering 2^nd and 1^st in heats 1 and 2 in this years Rally of Melbourne, was simply icing on the cake. By winning this years Rally of Melbourne, F2 class, the duo proved beyond a doubt that they are the Formula 2 team to beat, by taking out the 1998 Formula 2, Drivers and Co-drivers Championships ahead of Team mates Ross MacKenzie (WA) and Paul Van Der May (WA).

Despite giving away a camshaft and in some cases 400cc to the competition, which comprised some of Australian top talents, including Dean Herridge (Hyundai Coupe), Brett Middleton (Honda Civic VTi), Lee Peterson (Nissan Sunny GTi) and Simon Evans (Toyota Carolla) both Rick Bates and fellow Daihatsu Charade driver Ross MacKenzie proved that there is no substitute for reliability, build quality and fly by the seat of your pants driving by taking out 1^st and 2^nd in this years F2 Driver’s Championship.

The 1.6 litre, EFI, SOHC powered Charades driven by both Rick and Ross have been consistent all year, suffering only minor setbacks. This consistency is evident from Rick’s 1998 F2 drivers’ championship record, which shows him as scoring 170 points from a possible 180 for the year.

"We’re quite happy with the Charade, what it lacks in power it more than makes up for in both handling and reliability". said 1998 Formula 2 Champion Rick Bates.

Although the driver’s Championship is finished for 1998, there is still one event left for the year, Rally Australia, which by all accounts is shaping up to be a truly exciting and enjoyable event, not just for Australian Rallying but for World Rallying.

Rally Australia is the biggest rally event held in Australia and also one of the WRC events. It will attract some of the world’s hottest drivers and cars, and both Rick and Ross are looking forward to mixing it with the cream of the worlds Formula 2 teams.

"Rally Australia is on home soil for us and I’ve being doing this event in a Charade for a number of years. said Ross MacKenzie.

"We don’t have anywhere near the budget for research or development as most of these international guy, and we don’t expect to win Formula 2 class in Rally Australia against the high tech and more powerful kit cars such as the Skodas and Seats. However, with the home town advantage and two of the best prepared Charades I’ve experienced, I expect that both Rick and myself will give these guys a good run". says Ross McKenzie.