Proton Victorious In China Rally

The Satria Neo S2000 cars of Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson powered to a one-two victory at the China Rally to finish the year on a high for PROTON in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC).

The victory today secured PROTON’s second place in the APRC Manufacturer’s title while McRae’s top drive today promoted him from fourth to claim third in the APRC Driver’s Title in only PROTON’s first full season competing in the championship.

Leg 2 of the China Rally was fought over six difficult, long and rough special stages covering a combined distance of 83.7km.The highlight of the third and final day was a grueling 16.35km charge over the rocky mountainous region of San Men Yuan dubbed by rally drivers as the stage with a hundred hairpin turns. It also included high-speed charge along a newly-introduced 12.27km all-tarmac special stage which was repeated twice throughout the day. 


Restarting the rally almost two minutes down on Cusco Racing’s Hiroshi Yanagisawa and in second position, McRae wasted no time piling on the pressure to set the fastest stage time of 18 minutes 40.1 seconds in the 16.35km special stage 10. Halfway through the narrow and rough ascent, both he and Atkinson passed Yanagisawa’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X that was forced into retirement with mechanical problems. 

"This is definitely a great result for both PROTON and us. I’ve said it all year long that the Proton Satria Neo S2000 is capable of winning rallies and being on the podium but we have just experienced so much of bad luck throughout the season...To finally prove it in this rally with a one-two finish is just fantastic," said McRae who was co-driven by Bill Hayes. 

"Looking towards next year, I believe we can only go from strength to strength." 

Atkinson was equally pleased with a rewarding drive to second place considering he had to fight his way back up the field from two punctures sustained in Leg 1 of the rally. 

"Unfortunately a couple of punctures in Leg 1 cost us the victory but this is definitely a great result for PROTON. We pushed as hard as we can and all the way today but when you’re down two to three minutes, it’s not a gap that can be easily reduced," said the Australian who alongside his brother and co-driver Ben, had taken an early lead in the rally in the first few special stages of Leg 1 only to have all the hard work erased by two punctures. 

"It was a good but extremely rough rally but the car performed well and we didn’t encounter a single mechanical issue." 

In a rally so rough and one that had taken a heavy toll on so many competitors, only 24 of the original 44 entries who started completed the two-day rally run in the mountainous region and bamboo forests just outside of Longyou city. The event also experienced two major crashes involving Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi and India’s Gaurav Gill, both team mates and driving the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. Also excluded from APRC points was Indonesian Rifat Sungkar in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9 who retired in Leg 1 with a broken differential. 

"We are elated with this victory and it reaffirms the Satria Neo S2000 and PROTON’s competitiveness as a manufacturer on the international rally arena. Second is nevertheless rewarding, considering it has been a year which we had declared from the very beginning as being one that is devoted to testing and development," said Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. 

"We had a good outing this year based on the level of interest conveyed by both spectators and competitors alike. Such is the popularity of the Satria Neo S2000 that a top Japanese team has also inquired to field a Satria Neo in next year’s Asia Cup category in the APRC." 

Competing in its first full season of the APRC, victory in China placed PROTON ahead of Subaru and behind Mitsubishi in the APRC Manufacturer’s Title. 

"To see the Jalur Gemilang raised with PROTON as the winning manufacturer was indeed a proud and emotional moment for PROTON, the team and all Malaysian supporters present at the ceremonial finish. This is the result we’ve been waiting for and with all the development that has gone into enhancing the competitiveness of the Satria Neo S2000 and resolving earlier mechanical issues experienced, we now look forward to a better performance next year," said Team Manager Datuk Abdul Razak. 

"There are still refinements to be made in several areas but overall the result in China proves that the Satria Neo S2000 has the capability and reliability to not only match the performance but stay ahead of the more superior turbocharged rally cars," Datuk Abdul Razak said adding that the two cars in China had been fitted with the identical two engines previously used by the team in the recent Rally of Scotland. -paddocktalk.com