Trainee engineer wins trip for two to watch Monte Carlo rally
His effort was setting aside 5-10 minutes a day for four weeks to participate in an online rally contest. His reward was a trip for two to watch the 100th Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo on 19 to 23 January 2011.
Trainee aircraft engineer, Mohd Akram Zaki has just returned from Monaco with the Proton Motorsports Rally Team having successfully negotiated his virtual way from Kuala Lumpur to Monte Carlo in an online game which put its participants through a series of mini quizzes and a virtual rally split into 3 progressive stages.
“I still can’t believe I won myself a trip to watch the rally in Monaco! To be able to be there in person and witness such a historic event was really beyond my wildest dreams, and it was really such an unforgettable experience. All this has taught me so much about rallying, and after being able to see for myself the amount of work and effort it takes, I have newfound respect for the Proton Motorsports Rally team,” said Mohd Akram, who had been following the team online and participated in all the contests organized so far.
The team itself had less reasons to celebrate though, both Chris Atkinson and P.G. Andersson ended their respective challenges early. Atkinson’s car retired due to technical problems, whilst Andersson was forced out due to an unfortunate accident.
Nevertheless, Proton MD Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin continued to paint a positive picture by saying, “We wanted to reward our loyal motorsports fans with this once in a lifetime opportunity to witness one of the oldest rallies in the world, where our very own Satria Neo S2000 competed against other renowned car manufacturers from across the globe. This is our way of saying thank you to all our loyal supporters who have stood by and provided encouragement to the Proton Motorsports Rally Team. What better way to express our gratitude than to enable them to experience the thrill and adrenalin of rallying together with us.”
This season, the Proton Motorsports Rally Team will participate in 10 rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) and the full FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with the Proton Satria Neo S2000.
You can still try your hands at the online game at www.rallyetomontecarlo.com, but there’s no free trip on offer though.
