In 1997, Bates won the Panama to Alaska rally driving a
Porsche 911 with his co-driver Jenny Brittan. He has also appeared in two events of the
World Rally Championship. First, he drove to 30th place at Rally Australia 1997 in a Daihatsu Charade GTi. Then, he drove at China Rally 1999, this time in a Volkswagen Jetta GTX, but he retired on the fifth special stage. In both occasions, he was co-driven by Jenny Brittan with whom he won the Panama to Alaska rally in 1997. The former event saw him race with his twin brother Neal who scored points with an eighth-place finish. In 1997 he won the
Australian Formula 2 Rally Championship driving a
Daihatsu Charade GTi. In 2000, he was third in the
London-Sydney Marathon, finishing behind
Stig Blomqvist and
Michele Mouton. In 2006, Bates and Brittan also won the Carrera Sudamericana in
Argentina. ==Rally results==