Meet The CAMS Driver Development Squad: Paul Batten

Paul Batten:
Team: Paul Batten Racing
DOB: 06/01/1983
State: Born NSW, Lives VIC
Website: www.paulbatten.com

Paul Batten (“The Bat”) made headlines in 2007, winning the Australian Rally Championship’s www.rally.com.au Rally Challenge. Backed by Kangan Batman TAFE for the first half of the season Batten performed consistently throughout the series taking honours in eight of the nine heats he contested.

Away from the National competition Batten competed in the Hyundai Excel Rally series in the Victorian Rally Championships and numerous other state level rallies. Although a hospital visit to remove his appendix stopped forced him out of the last round of the VRC Batten held on to clinch the Excel Series Win to back up his Rally Challenge crown.

Batten showed promise in 2005 competing in the ARC Subaru Challenge, with strong finishes at both the QLD and SA rounds of the Championship. In 2006 he backed this up with a strong finish at the NGK Rally of Melbourne, placing just outside the top ten. His performance over the previous two seasons was enough to line him up the drive with Kangan Batman TAFE in 07.

As with most young rally drivers Batten lists his ultimate ambition as winning the Word Rally Championship, however more immediately would just like to find the funds to be competitive in the ARC.

Suffering some heavy crashes in his first few years, Batten lists his worst motorsport moment as his crash in the 2005 coates Rally Queensland describing himself as “gutted” and the car as “destroyed”.

Another accident led to his best motorsport memory, when he and his team of Craig Jones and Sarah Pinyani built a new car from scratch in one month, took it to the NGK Rally of Melbourne and won the 2007 www.rally.com.au Rally Challenge.

His favourite drivers are current WRC Champion Sebastian Loeb for his consistency and the late Colin McRae for his personality and love of the sport.

Outside of the car Batten enjoys Mountain Bikes, Sailing and Motorsport Engineering.

Courtesy of www.rally.com.au