TRIPLE EIGHT SIGNS BATES TO PARTNER LOWNDES
Triple Eight Race Engineering is thrilled to announce the signing of Zach Bates, who will join the team’s driving roster and planned continuation of the Supercheap Auto Racing wildcard program in 2025 alongside Craig Lowndes in the #888 Chevrolet Camaro.
The 20-year-old, currently competing in his second year of the Dunlop Super2 Championship, holds a 39-point championship lead entering the Adelaide 500 finale after claiming his first Super2 win at the Perth SuperSprint in May.
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 previously won the Formula Ford national title in 2021. Following his Formula Ford success, Zach carved out a brilliant Toyota 86 career, winning nine races in 2021 including eight in a row. In 2022, Zach won seven of 15 races.
Since the commencement of Triple Eight’s Supercheap Auto-backed wildcard program in 2021, the team has seen talented young drivers in Broc Feeney, Declan Fraser, Zane Goddard and Cooper Murray make their case for full-time seats in the Supercars Championship.
Supercheap Auto Racing’s 2022 Bathurst 1000 campaign delivered an eighth-place finish, the highest place wildcard finish in the history of the Great Race. The team’s 2024 Sandown 500 entry, piloted by Craig Lowndes and Cooper Murray, crossed the checkered flag in an impressive fifth position, securing a dominant one-two-five finish for Triple Eight Race Engineering across the team’s three entries. Murray also secured Triple Eight’s first top ten shootout appearance for the wildcard entry at the Darwin Triple Crown in June.
Jamie Whincup, Managing Director, Triple Eight Race Engineering
“I can’t wait to welcome Zach to the Triple Eight family next year and surround him with some of the most talented people in pit lane. There’s no doubt the step up from Super2 to Supercars is significant, but with the support of Craig and the #888 crew, Zach will be well prepared to give this opportunity a red-hot crack. I’m a huge believer in an experienced driver partnering with an up-and-coming talent to tackle the two enduro events, and this pairing has just as many opportunities and resources to win as our Red Bull Ampol Racing cars. I also want to acknowledge the super contribution of our major partner, Supercheap Auto. They’ve been with Triple Eight since 2021, and their investment in giving young talent a crack at the pinnacle of Australian motorsport shouldn’t go unrecognised.”