Coral Taylor: "This is the place where I love to be”

Reshared from www.onthepitwall.com, click here for the original post.

Hi, everyone! It's Evie here! I’ve got exciting news. For the last couple of months, I’ve been working as an intern for the wonderful organisation Females in Motorsport. In 2021, the site’s founder, Helena, gave me the fantastic opportunity to write a guest article for FinM. The incredible work the FinM team has done has played a crucial role in my passion for the sport and my awareness of the variety of roles available in the industry. 

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A few months ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Extreme E Champion Molly Taylor for OTPW. She recommended that I speak to the woman who helped spark her passion for rally - her mother, the accomplished co-driver Coral Taylor. 

Rally is almost a tradition in the family, beginning with Coral’s father Norm Fritter. Both Coral and her husband have also had careers in the sport, with Molly saying to me she thought it was just what all mums do. That got a laugh out of Coral.

Coral’s introduction to rally came at a young age. She attended events but “didn't really take it in or understand it”, not giving a career in motorsport much thought.

“. . my knowledge of the sport was very limited. I thought I understood that people got into cars and drove fast on dirt roads but I had no understanding whatsoever.”

In 1979, Coral embarked on a “tough adventure” - entering her first rally, the Repco Round Trial. Coral co-drove for her father, preparing by taking co-driving courses at a car club and competing in local events. The Repco is remembered for its brutality, a two-week event requiring drivers to race all across Australia.

“They wouldn't be allowed to run events like that today," Coral says. "Particularly from all sorts of work health and safety issues because we were expected to pretty much go solidly for 48 hours at a time, day and night for three weeks, travelling huge distances and being very tired. But I loved it, which seems mad for something that was so hard and so different from anything I had ever done. . . it was what kindled my love of rallying so that from that day to this, I've been involved. It didn't turn out to just be the  one-off adventure that I would do and move on.

“For me, it turned out to be something completely new, and completely foreign, and completely unexpected.”

Credit: Jack Martin Photography

In a rally car, co-drivers sit in the passenger seat, narrating a set of codes (called ‘pace notes’) which can follow different systems, varying in focus on descriptive and numerical elements.

The purpose is to “. . . paint a picture for the driver to commit to each corner as he comes up to it. . . almost like running a video in front of the driver's eyes before every corner. . . in rallies sometimes you're only winning or losing stages by a fraction of a second, so every hesitation or braking can cost that amount of time. It's a system that makes it possible to physically drive a car as fast as, possible around every corner and linking a stage together. So that teamwork - that's the bit I love about rallying”.

“Sometimes you're drowning in the logistics, and the preparation for an event, and you wonder 'why am I doing this, it's taking over my life'," she says. "But then you sit in the car. The moment I sit in the car, I always think 'that's why we do everything we do' - for this. This is the place where I love to be.”

Outside of co-driving, Coral has also been involved with motorsport and automotive boards, such as the Board of Motorsport Australia. Coral reinforced that her passion stemmed from the people involved in motorsport and the community aspect of rally. In this work, she shared she wants to give back to the sport - which is so dependent on volunteers who dedicate their time to planning and structuring events.

“It's such a great bunch of people from all walks of life - the people involved in rally," she says. "Everyone's so enthusiastic about the sport, and there's also a very strong sense of comradery between teams and people.”

When it comes to career highlights, Coral has no shortage of impressive achievements. She has participated in several rounds of the World Rally Championship and is a 5-time Australian Rally Champion. 

Credit: Jack Martin Photography

Amid those championship successes, Coral singled out a poignant moment of sportsmanship.

“.There was one moment that has always stood out to me over the years," Coral says. "It was actually the first year I was co-driving for Neal [Bates - Coral’s long-time driver partner] and we were up against Possum Bourne . . . During those years, it was Toyota versus Subaru, Neal Bates versus Possum Bourne. And it was in . . . my first rally with Neal and we were halfway through the first day. We were actually leading, which we were pretty excited about.

“Back in those days, servicing was not in a dedicated service park like it is today – instead, the service crews would drive and just park on the side of the road. So you'd come out of a stage and the service crews would be parked there. It was on a narrow piece of road and all the service crews were parked along both sides of the road, waiting for their cars to arrive, pull up and get some fuel and some repairs. . . as we drove through, we drove past where Possum's team were set up. . . and as we drove past, they all lined up along the road and started clapping as we drove past. Even now, I get all goosebumpy when I think about it, it was a very emotional moment - when your main opposition team in the event were clapping because they thought what we had just done was a great job, to be leading the event in that moment. That's something I'll never forget.”

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A massive thank you to Coral for her time and for sharing her story with me. Coral’s dedication and remarkable mindset exemplify just how inspirational she is.

Best of luck to Coral and the Toyota team this season!