PROTON NINE SECONDS ADRIFT OF FINISHING IN THE TOP 10 AT THE GEKO YPRES RALLY IN BELGIUM

PROTON’S Giandomenico Basso and P-G Andersson made a cautious start at the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium to finish the first six special stages 11th and 18th respectively after a day of drama which saw several top contenders in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) being forced into early retirement.

Racing on asphalt, the rally covers a total distance of 287km with day 1 consisting of six special stages.

Beginning the day 15th fastest, Basso pushed the Satria Neo S2000 into the top 10 by the fourth and fifth special stages before losing nine seconds to drop to 11th in the opening day’s final 18.84km charge through the Belgian countryside.

With light rain and 12 degree celcius temperatures, the rally proved to be a very big challenge for competitors who were left struggling to find grip.

“The special stages are both really fast and tricky. We changed tyres in special stage 4 but unfortunately the choice became too soft now,” said Basso, a previous winner of the Geko Ypres Rally. “The most sensible decision therefore, was to push moderately and to ensure we stay in contention for the final day.”

A total of 121 cars started the rally with only 90 completing the first day of competition. Freddy Loix in a Skoda Fabia S2000 currently leads the Geko Ypres Rally ahead of Peugeot’s Guy Wilks in the 207 S2000. In third place is Bryan Bouffier driving in another Peugeot 207 S2000. The most alarming incident involved Skoda driver Jan Kopecky whose rally came to an end even before the start when a crash during shakedown the day before injured his co-driver Petr Stary. The rally also took its toll on local favourite Thiery Neuville who did not even reach the finish of the first special stage. Also a casualty was Skoda driver Andreas Mikkelsen who crashed in the first corner of the very first special stage.

Meanwhile, from 15th in special stage 2, team mate Andersson too was finding his first time out at the Geko Ypres Rally challenging. The Swedish driver lost 53 seconds in special stage 3 which dropped him to 19th position. He managed to fight his way back up to 17th over the next two special stages but again conceded 45 seconds in the final and longest special stage of the day.

“It’s good fun, but at times we encountered big slides,” said the double Junior World Rally Champion. “Overall, the car feels a lot better since the last round in the Ukraine.”

Finishing in the midfield and just outside of the top 10 front runners however, remains an achievement given the competition.

“Traction, the choice of tyres and excessive tyre wear is definitely a concern in these conditions. Considering this event is only PROTON’s second visit to Belgium, and given the limited amount of data we have in setting up the two cars, both drivers drove sensibly yet was able to remain competitive, to finish the first day without any dramas,” said Head of PROTON Motorsports Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood.

“The stages are a combination of fast straights and very twisty corners with ditches along the narrow asphalt roads. It is a rally that demands experience and good navigational skills, as well as tyre choice

“We hope PROTON will do well in finishing amongst the top 10 from a field of 31 Super 2000 cars.”

The second and final day of rallying tomorrow (Sunday) will be contested over 12 special stages.-protonmotorsports.wordpress.com

2012 Renault Koleos Facelift Revealed

We now have egg on our face, as earlier today we brought you leaked (sort of) images showing the facelifted version of the Renault Koleos, which was accidentally shown in India. We said we expected to see the full car in high definition somewhere around this year’s Frankfurt auto show, but the French carmaker might have had its hand forced, as it revealed it today.

The biggest cosmetic change has been made up front, where the lights, bumper and grille have been changed, but interior trim has also been improved upon. The lights have been softened and look like those on the Latitude sedan. Cosmetic changes also include new headlights, a larger single frame grille with chrome accents plus a redesigned bumper, fenders and hood.

The mirrors now have incorporated LED lights and the range of alloy wheels has been freshened up a bit. There’s also a new color available - Cayenne Orange - which you see in the image gallery.

The interior has been improved upon with increased modularity and comfort along with various  technologies like hands-free entry and ignition, electronic parking brake, automatic headlights and screen wiper, plus the Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control systems on the 4x4 versions Koleos.

The Koleos is available with a range of diesels with outputs ranging from 150 hp or 175 hp in the case of the diesel-burners, while the only petrol available is has 170 hp on tap.

Upgrades to the gearbox have also improved emissions, as the dCi 150 engine is now rated at 148g/km and the dCi 175 unit at 166g/km.-autoevolution.com

Porsche's Green Lantern? Cayman R unveiled

Porsche Centre Singapore, the local Porsche dealer, has brought in the Cayman R, the top-of-the-range variant in the Cayman line-up.

The mid-engined coupe has gone green in the face from slimming classes (or from speed).

The largest savings were achieved through lightweight components and throwing out the convenience equipment. For example, it has only straps for door handles.For added measure, Porsche also equipped it with the lightest 19-inch rims in its garage - the entire set weighs 40kg.

Compared to the Cayman S, the R's weight has dropped by 55kg to 1,295kg.

Power has also been upped. At 330bhp, the Cayman R has 10bhp more than the Cayman S.

A tuned-up 3.4-litre six-cylinder gets the business done by transmitting power to the rear wheels via a six-speed manual. Standstill to 100kmh takes place in 5sec. An optional six-speed PDK transmission shaves 0.1sec off the century sprint.

As a result of the weight loss and power gain, the Cayman R's power-to-weight ratio comes in at 3.9kg per bhp (4.0kg per bhp for the PDK variant).

A specially adapted sport chassis that has been lowered by 20mm compared to the Cayman S, completes the racetrack package. It is capable of a top speed of 282kmh (manual) or 280kmh (PDK).

The Cayman R was first unveiled worldwide in November 2010 at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Prices start from $306,888 without COE.-motoring.asiaone.com

Sneak peek at Nokia's first Windows Phone 7: Looks just like the N9

Leaked photos and video of the first Nokia phone to be running Windows Phone 7 Mango seem to offer the best of both worlds: the impressive design of the N9 and a new OS that should be supported for years to come.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop was showing this phone codenamed “Sea Ray” at a press event when his pleas for “no pictures please” and for recording devices to be put away were ignored (lucky for us), which is how these images and brief video became available.

“Sea Ray” has the same slim body with sharp edges, and curved Gorilla glass over the all-screen look of the N9. According to the Hungarian site Technet’s English translation of the leaked materials:

The device itself is nearly identical to the just announced N9. Some difference, we can see: different LED placement on the back (but the same 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens) and a hardware button for the camera on the right.

If this “Sea Ray” turns out to be the real thing, then Nokia may finally have a hit on its hands.-zdnet.com

Lotus City Car Concept Details, Sales To Start In 2014

In addition to the new range of supercars and sports cars released at last year's Paris show, Lotus is planning to build its City Car Concept with help from its parent company, Proton, according to the latest report.

Also unveiled in Paris, the City Car Concept offers just what you'd expect: small size, a clean plug-in hybrid drivetrain, and a short EV range suited to minimizingcosts and maximizing urban benefit.

Lotus plans to build about 1,500-1,800 of the cars each year according to CAR. The generic City Car name will be dropped in favor of "Ethos" in production form.

Pricing is expected to start around £30,000 in the U.K., which would translate to about $48,000 U.S., if that's how pricing worked. If the Ethos does come to the U.S., expect it to come at a discount in comparison.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar also told CAR that the Ethos could be sold as either a battery-electric or a hybrid, meaning there may be changes before sales start in 2014, or Lotus may offer two versions of the car.

The Ethos will be built in Malaysia and also sold under Proton's brand name, though the Lotus-branded vehicles are expected to get a trip through Norfolk for finishing touches.-motorauthority.com