Proton Rally Team all set for 2010 APRC
The Proton Rally Team, spearheaded by Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson partnered with their respective co-drivers Bill Hayes and Stephane Prevot, is set to compete in the 2010 season of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), which kicks off with the Rally of Malaysia taking place this weekend, 23 – 25 April 2010.
Subsequently, the season continues with the Rally of Japan (22 – 23 May), Rally of New Zealand (3 – 4 July), Rally of Australia (31 July – 1 August), Rally of Indonesia (25 – 26 September) and finally the Rally of China (6 – 7 November).
The team is also mulling over the possibility of participating in the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC), which starts in Sardinia, Italy on 4 – 6 June. In the IRC last year, McRae drove the Proton team’s Satria Neo S2000 to 2nd and 4th place at the Rally of Scotland and the Rally of Russia respectively, while being mixed with established manufacturer teams such as Peugeot, Skoda, Fiat, Subaru and Mitsubishi.
To mark the start of its 2010 season, the team held a small ceremony earlier this week where the Minister of Youth & Sports, Dato’ Ahmad Shabery Cheek, handed over the Malaysian flag to Proton Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
“Motorsports is one of several key strategies being pursued to firmly establish PROTON as a global brand, especially in the markets that we are actively exporting to. It also presents us with the opportunity to generate a desired level of awareness in potential markets,” said Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal.
Proton’s rally programme, run in collaboration with Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM), will see the team field two Satria Neo S2000 rally cars piloted by McRae & Hayes, and Atkinson & Prevot.
Speaking on the company’s active push in motorsports, which includes an indirect participation in Formula One via the Lotus Racing team, Datuk Syed Zainal said, “With motorsports, it is always an emotional bond that a car manufacturer intends to establish with the public. In some ways, it does help to propel sales and influence individuals to consider a particular brand when making a purchase. At the very least, the better we perform on track, the greater the awareness the brand attracts and with this, recognition. In addition, motor-racing, in this case rallying, will also serve as a proving ground for PROTON with the hope that some innovative elements derived from competition can also be translated into improving on our future products.”
Powering the Neo S2000 rally car is a heavily reworked version of the 1.8-litre Renault F4P engine that powered the now-defunct Proton Waja 1.8. For its application in the Neo S2000, the engine’s bore has been expanded from 82.7mm to 91mm, while stroke has been stretched slightly from 83mm to 83.5mm, giving the engine a capacity of 1,998cc.
Fitted with various racing internals, and also improved electronic control systems, the engine produces 276hp @ 7,600rpm and twists out 271Nm @ 7,000rpm. Though the Neo’s standard chassis has been critically acclaimed for its inherent stiffness and handling balance, extensive work still needed to be done in order to accommodate a 4WD drivetrain, which features an Xtrac“532” 4WD Super2000 6 speed sequential transmission.
Pictures: Official Proton release.
