Proton Supplies Cars to Sauber Petronas Team
Team Sauber Petronas to Rely on Proton cars during Malaysian Grand Prix
Petaling Jaya 15 March 2005 – PROTON maintained its long standing F1 tradition today by becoming the official car for Team Sauber Petronas for the 7th consecutive year. Once again the team will get an exhilarating drive both on as well as off the track while they are in Malaysia, courtesy of Proton.
Team Sauber Petronas will have a fleet of 5 Proton GEN.2 and 5 Proton Perdana V6, both of which have been developed by PROTON to incorporate the dynamic F1 heritage of Lotus; itself an icon with a long and fine tradition of racing successes.
From its first F1 victory at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix, Lotus had gone on to produce a long list of winners in prestigious racing events to entrench its place in the world of motor racing. Drivers who have made racing history in Lotus cars include past champions Mario Andretti, Jack Brabham, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell, Stirling Moss, Nelson Piquet, Aryton Senna and Mika Hakkinen.
Today, every Proton model since the Satria Gti carries the Lotus engineering touch which is incorporated into the design and build of every new model since the acquisition of Lotus by the national car manufacturer in 1996.
“PROTON is proud to continue its tradition of being the official car for Team Sauber Petronas, especially since our cars carry within them the F1 heritage which is the result of the race engineering advancements developed by Lotus,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Proton Edar Sdn Bhd En. Ahmad Tifli Talha.
He was speaking at the handover of the cars to the team’s 2005 drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa at the flagship showroom in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya today.
“PROTON has been providing the official cars for Team Sauber Petronas since the very first F1 race in Malaysia and we are proud that a world class motor racing team which demands such high levels of automotive reliability continues to be satisfied with our cars for their off-track travel requirements,” said Ahmad Tifli
“Although they are not performance cars, the GEN.2 and Perdana V6 models used by the team feature the signature Proton characteristics of superior ride and handling, which I am sure drivers of Villeneuve’s and Massa’s caliber will appreciate,” added Ahmad Tifli.
