A FAMILIAR Australian motorsport surname will join the Dunlop Super2 Series ranks next year, with Zach Bates signing for Walkinshaw Andretti United.
V8 Sleuth understands a deal has been done to cement the next step in the burgeoning career of the son of former World Rally Championship and Supercars Championship driver Rick Bates.
MORE: What we know about the 2023 Super2 field
The 18-year-old is coming off an excellent 2022 in which he was runner-up in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series and took a round podium on Turtle Wax Trans Am Series debut.
Bates will drive one of the ZB Commodores WAU fielded this year, despite the team’s high-profile main game switch to Ford for 2023.
It will mark the Walkinshaw camp’s first Super2 campaign since 2012, when it ran title contender Nick Percat.
Percat nowadays races for WAU’s top team, alongside fellow Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert.
The Bates family is predominantly known for its feats in rallying.
Zach’s uncle Neal won four Australian Rally Championship titles, and his cousins Harry and Lewis are both ARC champions too.
The 2023 Super2 Series will comprise of six rounds: Newcastle, Perth, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst and Adelaide.
