Toyota Team Australia’s Neal Bates is steadily moving into the top ten mid-way through Leg One of Telstra Rally Australia in Perth. Team mechanics were chasing an elusive engine misfire at the lunchtime service halt but Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor were comfortably holding ninth position. The team is currently the top local crew after seven stages of the world championship event. "Hopefully nothing will go wrong and we will just keep going how we are," a cautiously optimistic Bates said. The three times Australian rally champion has his sights firmly set on the Ford Focus world rally car of Thomas Radstrom, just 20 seconds ahead. "We’d like to stay in touch there but he’s slowly creeping away," Bates said. Rectifying the engine miss will be a key component of the battle to peg back the flying Swede. In a first for Toyota Team Australia at this event, Bates and Taylor are also dealing with the unknowns of running second on the road. Reverse starting order for each leg of the event means the world’s fastest drivers - FIA Priority One seeds - are behind them. "We’re finding it quite slippery. Obviously running early on the road you are clearing it for everyone else but that’s the way the rules are this year and we have to cope with that," Bates said. Bates’ main Australian Rally Championship rival, Subaru’s Possum Bourne, was a shock early withdrawal from the three day event. The recently crowned 1999 Australian champion was forced into retirement on the first stage of the day, York Railway, with a broken cam belt. "In a lot of ways its a shame, its better to have a race," Bates said of Bourne’s exit and the lack of expected battle between them. Other high profile Leg One retirements include Toyota Team Europe’s Didier Auriol, and Subaru of four times Rally Australian winner Juha Kanhkunen. Bates is now looking to consolidate with a further three stages this afternoon local time, including another blast around the purpose built Langley Park Super Special Stage. Bates was the fastest Australian driver over the 2.2km match-race course last night, Bourne half a second behind. Teams tomorrow face the longest day of the event, contesting 160.97 competitive kilometres over eight stages in Leg Two.