Proton makes encouraging debut in San Remo Rally
Proton’s latest foray into motorsports continues in good pace with Frenchman Gilles Panizzi driving the Satria Neo S2000 rally car to an 18th place finish on its debut at the San Remo Rally in Italy. Panizzi, who had won three of the previous 51 editions of this rally, was driving for the Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team for the first time.
The exit of team mate and former Production Car World Rally champion Niall McShea due to seizure of his power steering left Panizzi alone on the field battling more highly established sets of wheels such as the Peugeot 207 Super S2000, Skoda Fabia Super S2000, Ford Fiesta Super S2000 and Honda Civic Type R.
San Remo’s unpredictable weather saw conditions suddenly switching from dry and sunny to wet and slippery, giving teams plenty of problems with their tyre choices. At the end, some 40 cars failed to cross the finish line.
“Considering we were in the company of more established manufacturers and bigger budget teams, plus the fact that our selective participation in the IRC (Intercontinental Rally Championship) this year is purely for development purposes, the Satria Neo S2000’s overall performance on asphalt certainly inspires plenty of confidence as we prepare for 2011,” said Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin, Proton Group Managing Director.
Panizzi’s recruitment by Proton was to draw on his vast experience to develop the Satria Neo S2000 into a competitive vehicle for the IRC. Thus far, the Frenchman sounds optimistic of his task, saying, “The Satria Neo S2000 is a very well balanced car with plenty of potential to be unlocked which was what the team focused on and was able to gain from over the weekend.”
“Overall, Proton’s outing in San Remo has been great. For an event that we did not plan to compete in much earlier and only decided on after the cancellation of the Rally of Indonesia, the result in San Remo and especially on tarmac was commendable. More importantly, it enabled the team to make tremendous gains in terms of further developing the Satria Neo S2000 given Panizzi’s vast experience and the pivotal role he previously played in helping to develop the Peugeot Super S2000 rally machine,” added Dato’ Syed Zainal.
Pictures: Official Proton release.
