Coral Taylor
Encyclopedia
She began her motorsport career at the age of 18, when she co-drove for her father, Norm Fritter, in the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial, sparking a passion that lives to this day.
She won her first rally as co-driver for Peter Glennie in 1986, and in 1993 she teamed up with Neal Bates
Neal Bates
Neal Bates is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Throughout his career Bates has been associated with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship and for 19 years his Neal Bates Motorsport outfit ran Toyota's official rally program in Australia...
and Toyota, and began to rewrite the local rally records.
The two won the Australian Rally Championship
Australian Rally Championship
The Australian Rally Championship is a 6 Round National motorsport Championship run in forested countryside throughout Australia.-Current Competition:...
the first year (1993), then backed that up with wins in the following two years as well, becoming the first team to ever win 3 consecutive championships outright (Ross dunkerton drew for first in 1977, breaking his hat-trick). New Zealand's Possum Bourne shattered that record with 7 consecutive wins from 1996-2002.
In 1995, as well as winning their 3rd ARC championship, Neal and Coral also finished 1st outright in the Targa Tasmania
Targa Tasmania
Targa Tasmania is a tarmac-based rally event held on the island state of Tasmania, Australia, annually since 1992. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily...
tarmac rally. In the next six years there were numerous rally wins, and five second and one 3rd place in the ARC Championship. Also in this period was 3 consecutive 1st-in-class in the Targa Tasmania
Targa Tasmania
Targa Tasmania is a tarmac-based rally event held on the island state of Tasmania, Australia, annually since 1992. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily...
(1999-2001) in a Lexus IS200. 1997 saw a change of equipment, when they switched from the Toyota Celica GT4 to the Toyota Corolla WRC (3rd that year)
In 2001, after winning their fifth 2nd place, due to new rules and regulations concerning vehicles, they were forced to take a year off while a new car was built by the team (Their Toyota Corolla WRC car no longer met regulations). They returned in 2003 in a new Corolla Group N Prototype, and finished 6th in the 2004 and 2005 championships, before returning to the podium with another 2nd in 2006.
2007 saw them in another new car, this time a Corolla Super 2000, and they become the first pair to win stages and finish on the podium in a S2000 spec car, and they finished 2nd in the championship for the 7th time, bringing their total to 11 podium finishes in 15 years
Taylor has acted as co-driver for Neal Bates
Neal Bates
Neal Bates is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Throughout his career Bates has been associated with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship and for 19 years his Neal Bates Motorsport outfit ran Toyota's official rally program in Australia...
for 18 years, covering much of his rally career, and in several appearances on the World Rally Championship
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13...
during the 1990s in Toyota Celica GT-Four
Toyota Celica GT-Four
The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient...
s and Toyota Corolla WRCs
Toyota Corolla
The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million...
.
She won the Australian Rally Championship
Australian Rally Championship
The Australian Rally Championship is a 6 Round National motorsport Championship run in forested countryside throughout Australia.-Current Competition:...
with Neal Bates
Neal Bates
Neal Bates is an Australian rally and racing car driver. Throughout his career Bates has been associated with Toyota in the Australian Rally Championship and for 19 years his Neal Bates Motorsport outfit ran Toyota's official rally program in Australia...
in 1993, 1994 and 1995, placed second in the 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2007 championships, and Third in 1997. In November 2008 Taylor and Bates won their fourth Australian Championships.
Taylor comes from a strong rallying family. She is the daughter of veteran rallyist Norm Fritter, married to former Australian Championship driver Mark Taylor, and mother to emerging driver Molly Taylor, whom she co-drove for in the Isle of Man rally when Molly's regular co-driver couldn't compete, due to a prior pre-booked engagement.