WARNING: WHEELS HARDCORE UNSEALED SECTION

WHAT BETTER TEST FOR TOYOTA’S RALLY HOMOLOGATION SPECIAL THAN ON THE DIRT ROADS USED FOR THE RALLY OF MELBOURNE? AND WHO BETTER TO TALK US THROUGH IT THAN AUSSIE RALLY LEGEND NEAL BATES?

- SCOTT NEWMAN

NEAL BATES has rallied all over the world, so which event do you think is his favourite? Maybe New Zealand’s smooth, conveniently cambered thoroughfares through lush green hills? Or perhaps the challenge of Indonesia’s sweaty, slimy, clay-covered palm plantation roads?

Nope, the answer is the Rally of Melbourne. We’ll let the four-time Australian champion and motorsport hall of Famer explain why: “I think the stages, but more than anything, the surface. It always had good grip and [was] also incredibly smooth. But you look at the stages, there’s room to enjoy what rallying is all about: throwing the car into a corner, getting on the power and driving through the corner sideways. The stages really suited that style of driving and it was an absolute sprint rally; drive as fast as you can.”

Such a glowing endorsement requires closer investigation. Old rally maps reveal the roads that Bates animatedly describes lie just an hour or so east of Melbourne’s CBD, surrounding the towns of Yarra Glen, Healesville and Marysville. Our chariot of choice couldn’t be more obvious: the Toyota GR Yaris Rallye. It is, after all, the spiritual successor of the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive weapons that helped Bates and his long-time co-driver Coral Taylor (mother of champion driver Molly) fill their trophy cabinets.