Proton Satria Neo S2000 continues good showing in Rally of Scotland
The Proton Satria Neo S2000 continued its fine form on the international rally scene, but was once again undone by poor luck. A total of three Neo S2000 rally cars competed this time round; two under the flag of the Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team, and one more a privateer entry by 19-year-old Welshman Tom Cave.
The three-day rally was flagged-off on Friday, 15 October. It was the 11th and penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, covering a total of 196.92km. The two cars under the Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team were driven by Alister McRae and Keith Cronin respectively.
Luck was hardly on Proton’s side throughout the weekend. All three cars suffered punctures during the rally, and McRae was out of the running early on due to alternator problems. McRae did return to compete in the third day under the Super Rally Format, but he was not awarded a finishing position.
“Based on the level of progress we’ve made we certainly had good and positive vibes this weekend. Of course it’s disappointing, especially when the car feels better and there has definitely been a big improvement with the engine and suspension set-up,” said McRae who had spent much of last week testing to develop the Satria Neo S2000’s damper settings.
At the end of Day 2, Cronin and Cave found themselves next to each other in the drivers standings, being placed 8th and 9th respectively. Cronin, who was only competing in the Satria Neo S2000 for the second time, started cautiously before making a charge from 12th to 8th place by the end of Special Stage 5.
Cronin’s challenge came to an end on the final day due to a puncture, but Cave really had to rue his luck after crashing his car into a ditch just a few corners from the finish line when placed fourth. Starting the third and final day of the rally from 9th, Cave charged aggressively through the last four special stages to see Skoda, Ford, Peugeot and Proton taking the top four fastest positions.
“Today started really well but I’m devastated that it finished the way it did,” said Cave who at the age of 16 two years ago had become the youngest British international rally driver.
“Of course, I’m really annoyed with myself for putting the car into the ditch so close to the end, but at the same time, there are a lot of positives that we can take away from the weekend in that we have demonstrated that we can be competitive in the Satria Neo S2000 with the pace we had set,” Cave added.
Skoda Motorsports and newly-crowned Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) champion Juho Hanninen won the rally ahead of Norwegian champion Andreas Mikkelsen in the Ford Fiesta S2000 followed by 2009 IRC champion Kris Meeke in the Peugeot 207 S2000 in third place.
