Max Coates is a professional racing car driver from North Yorkshire!

 

Max is a popular driver in the British Touring Car Championship paddock, a champion and multiple race winner.  Having competed in Motorsport for over 20 years Max is experienced, professional and dedicated.  This year he is competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB.

 

Racing karts since the age of 8 Max progressed his racing career into cars in 2010 when he joined the Ginetta Junior Championship.  Following two successful years as a privateer entry supported by Dad (Rob), Mum (Karen) and brother (Greg) Max moved up the Ginetta racing ladder to the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup.  Since then he has raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup of Great Britain, Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, Dunlop Britcar Endurance Championship, Hankook 24hr Series, the Citroen Trade Team C1 Challenge, British RX, Race of Remembrance and the Renault UK Clio Cup and Clio Cup Internationale Finale.  It is in those final two championships where Max's career has really progressed.

 

Max made his UK Clio Cup debut at Brands Hatch in 2016 racing for the Ciceley Motorsport team.  He took pole position at his second event, a win by mid-season and ended as the Graduate Champion with 3rd place overall.  He continued with Ciceley Motorsport in 2017 to challenge for the championship and was in the battle for 2nd spot all the way to the final race of the season, ultimately ending the season 4th.  Before the 2018 season started Max joined Ciclcye Motorsport at the Dubai 24hr race, the curtain-raiser for the Creventic 24hr series.  He finished on the podium in class with his teammates.   For the 2018 Clio Cup season, Max joined the Pyro Motorsport team, the most successful in the championship's history.  Max lead the championship from his home race at Croft all the way to the very last race of the season, missing out on the championship and finishing 3rd in a thrilling championship decider.  After the season had finished he traveled to Paul Ricard in the South of France to compete in the Renault Clio Internationale Finale and finished 2nd beating drivers from 12 countries.

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In 2019 Max moved to a new team, Team HARD.  As well as racing the car he also played a major role in the running of the team.  It was his most successful season in the championship which saw him miss out on the final ever UK Clio Cup Championship by just 5 points.  After a sensational rivalry with Jack Young both drivers tied on 7 race wins 2019 was as much about the incidents and interviews off-track as the racing on it.  His Clio Cup season was supported by an entry in the Britcar Endurance Championship, qualifying on pole and winning races multiple times, Max, alongside teammate Guy Colclough, finished 3rd in the Class 4 standings.  Max also had one-off appearances in the TCR UK series, where he won both races at Donington Park, and British RX150 Buggy series at Croft.

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For 2020 a switch to the MINI CHALLENGE UK, Max joined multi-championship winning squad, Elite Motorsport.  He won the third race at their debut round, Donington Park.  A pole at the final round showed Max had the pace to compete at the front, but ultimately he finished 5th in the championship after a few setbacks earlier in the year.

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Max joined another new MINI CHALLENGE team in 2021, Graves Motorsport.  After a difficult start at Norfolk's Snetterton 300 circuit he won at Brands Hatch second time out.  Three tough rounds at Oulton Park, Knockhill and Croft Circuit netted a podium at Max's home circuit, Croft.  From then on the team turned it up a gear, qualifying on pole at Donington Park and 2nd at Brands Hatch GP.  A podium in race two at Donington and then winning the final race of the year, Max and the team laid down their intentions for 2022.  The season again started with a difficult opening round before bouncing back for a podium and win at Brands Hatch.  Max was firmly in the championship title hunt until a string of mechanical failures late in the season made a championship challenge too big a stretch.

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Alongside his MINI CHALLENGE UK campaign Max also raced in the British Endurance Championship (BEC) with newly formed team Dragon Sport by Amigo Motorsport.  Alongside driving partner Rhys Lloyd the pair achieved two podium finishes at Oulton Park and Silverstone GP.  The pair will continue in the BEC with the Opel Astra TCR car in 2023.  Max also ran his own team, High Row Motorsport, for the first time.  Competing in the Clio Cup class of the Britcar Trophy Championship his rookie drivers achieved a podium finish on the Silverstone GP circuit.

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In 2023 Max is competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB, a series that sees identical 425bhp Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 race cars compete against each other.  With six rounds supporting the BTCC Max is sure to be fighting at the front live on ITV4.

 

Away from the track Max holds a 1st Class Sports Marketing Degree and is a director of Marketing Agency, High Row Marketing.  With over 20,000 social media followers reaching in excess of 2 million people per year Max is a credible brand ambassador.  He is also an ARDS A qualified race driver coach and instructor and enjoys hanging out with his friends and keeping fit. Max is a Yorkshire Patron, an AASE and Motorsport UK Development Squad Graduate and a former BRDC Rising star.