It was a tough seventh round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) this year in the Czech Republic but the Proton Motorsports team still managed to demonstrate the pace and ability of the Satria Neo S2000 by scoring both drivers’ and manufacturers’ points in the event which was run over the weekend.
The competition saw 29 of the world’s fastest Super 2000 cars making the start of this exceptionally popular rally among a total of 123 competitors. Proton Motorsport’s drivers were double Junior World Rally Champion P-G Andersson and 2-time FIA European Rally Champion Giandomenico Basso who both a speedy account of themselves.
Unfortunately for Basso, a puncture ruined the Italian driver’s hopes of taking points from the event, but Swede Andersson was on exceptional form throughout to score in the sunshine. The conditions weren’t quite as difficult as they have been in previous years but heavy overnight rain on Saturday meant the shaded areas of Sunday morning’s stages needed to be treated with extreme caution.
Andersson ended the event in ninth place, less than 20 seconds behind local hero and former Ford WRC driver Roman Kresta, while Basso climbed to 13th having slipped to 18th after his puncture.
“I had a good feeling the whole weekend and really enjoyed this rally. I liked the stages and we’ve also improved the car in the engine and the chassis. I feel that I know the car now and I can take it to the limit more and more. It’s good,” said Andersson.
“I'm happy. This is a very hard race, but I'm happy. We made improvements to the car and, for us, it was important to arrive at the finish with a good result for the team. We showed the reliability and that was good to show,” added Basso.
The team head, Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, expressed satisfaction that there’s been a significant step forward in the development of the Satria Neo S2000. “From where we were 12 months ago, we have halved the gap to the cars at the front of the field and that represents real progress,” he said.
The rally was dominated by Skoda (which is like the national brand of the Czech Republic) car finishing in the top three positions. Out of the 123 starters, 89 finished the rally which comprised almost 250 kms of competitive stages run over a total distance of 620 kms.-motortrader.com.my
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