Proton And McRae Second in Rally of Scotland
SCOTLAND, 2 December 2009 – PROTON made Malaysia proud by scoring its first podium finish with a well deserved second overall placing in the Rally of Scotland, the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge 2009.
Driving the new Proton Satria Neo Super2000, Scottish hero Alister McRae gave the thousands of local motorsports fans plenty to cheer about as he was given the honour of being the first car to start the Rally at the Historic Scone Palace in Perth, Scotland for the 1.5km spectator stage. Flagging him off were Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, and Formula 1 legend, Sir Jackie Stewart.
After the ceremonial start, the rally headed into the nearby historic forest roads of Stirling, Perth, and Kinross. Torrential rain coupled with the narrow gravel roads made conditions extremely treacherous, presenting a huge challenge to all competitors. Rally of Scotland marks only the third time McRae has driven the Proton S2000 in competition and despite his lack of regular top flight rallying this year, he was immediately on the pace with IRC rally regulars, newly crowned IRC Champion, Kris Meeke in a Peugeot 207 S2000 and Guy Wilks in a Skoda Fabia S2000.
“The chassis is one of the best I have ever driven,” said McRae. “There is definitely lots of potential in the car and I look forward to even more rallies in the Proton” he added. The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 was built to conform to the latest FIA Super 2000 regulations for rally cars and homologated for competition at the end of 2008. Super 2000 is expected to be the future of World Rallying and designed to cut development time as well as reduce costs for Manufacturers to participate. The road going Proton Satria Neo lends itself to this role readily as its platform which was designed together with British sports car maker Lotus, demonstrates excellent chassis and suspension dynamics coupled with a low silhouette contributing to a lowered centre of gravity.
Since then, the Proton Satria Neo S2000 has participated in over 15 rallies worldwide. Notable results include a third fastest stage time in the first round of the World Rally Championship in Ireland, and a fourth overall in IRC Rally Russia while regularly running in the top ten positions in all other competitions.
