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Team Proton Axle’s Faidzil Alang beat 25 other cars and took the chequered flag today at the Bira International Circuit in Thailand, ensuring a driver’s crown win for the team in the inaugural Asian Touring Car 1500Max Series race.
This is Faidzil’s fourth win in the series, chalking up another 15 points bringing his total championship points up to 96 points. The team’s other driver Syafiq Ali is in second place in overall standings with 72 points. Looking at the current standings, it is only possible for Faidzil or Syafiq to win the driver’s title.
The Asian Touring Car 1500 Max Series race is a new regional championship for normally aspirated cars below 1599cc. Example cars that can participate include the Honda Jazz, Peugeot 206, Vios, GEN2, Satria Neo, Waja, Saga, Swift, Aveo and others.
The cars raced by Team Proton Axle are Proton Satria Neo 1500 Max ATCS cars built by Proton’s Race Rally Research division in Shah Alam. The team is managed by Alex Yoong. Other than the two main drivers mentioned (Faidzil Alang and Syafiq Ali), the support driver role is filled by Sanjeev Palar.
1500Max cars are allowed to have bodykits, a 17 inch wheel size, wings, suspension tuning and engine tuning. The engines must be normally aspirated. The race has a strict power to weight ratio rule for the cars to ensure all drivers have an equal chance of winning. Also, winning cars in each race has to have a success ballast added onto the car in the next race.
The next stop for the 1500Max race is Chengdu, China. Look after the jump for more images of our 1500Max Satria Neos.
Related Story:
MEM Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 – Specifications and Photos
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After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Vios……? Sayur je lah………..
wow .. the satrio-neo is so powerfullll…zoom…zoom!!
The Neo stands out of the crowd in terms of design, but dunno about the dynamics though.
Anyway, it’s the other way of promoting the brand in China.
Proton Axle is the only team contesting in ALL of the ATCS 1500 Max Rounds in AFOS, which is a major contributor of why they win the c’ship HANDS DOWN.
But the team would be a formidable contender even if there were another consistent participant to the series, I believe.
Time for Motorsport Asia to woo more manufacturer teams to join, or else it will satisfying to win without a real fight for team owner Alex Yoong.
Vios can race???
Not just in China but also in Thailand where Proton just entered not so long ago.
Are they using Neo’s standard red paint? I like this colour is better than Neo S2000′s yellow.
did i hear sanjeev palar??? omg i guess he only know how to run his mouth on Engine Block.. but a support driver role??? gosh he is a joke… a joke for the team as well…
Interesting, where is the Neo GTi?
wat?
dugong can race 1 meh?
swim so slow
Pathetic looking Vios .. Get them out from the track please.
i still can’t fathom why the satria neo sells so badly in malaysia, its the best looking proton of all
Malaysians nowadays are looking for practical cars, Satria Neos are only practical for racers.
man, this is so cooool !!!
watching Vios and Satria on racing track is definitely COOL
vios racing? they might as well use the Avanza, with torsion beam suspension and all it’s built to a price and comfort
nice bumpers…satira neo gti cps amt…that’s WAT we want!
abtm said,
August 21, 2008 @ 8:19 pm
Not all torsion beam cars can’t race, Renault Clio is a good example of real handling. But in this case, Vios is just a joke.
halfclutch said,
August 21, 2008 @ 8:30 pm ‘
No man not the jerky AMT on Savvy ..
move on to DCT
have anyone notice that car like Honda Jazz, Peugeot 206, GEN2, Waja, Saga, Swift, Aveo and others was not in the scene ??
make me wonder just 2 S.Neo vs alot of Vios
Not bad Malaysian car can race, wondering when they will bring up the new version of Proton Putra and Proton Satria Gti considering both this car is a legend!!
LOL @ abtm’s comment…
did you know one of the best handling hatch – Ford Focus uses torsion beam?
The article didn’t mentioned anything about the engine used in the Neo….
Is it using proton engine or it already has been transplanted by another make?
v0ices said,
August 21, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
LOL @ abtm’s comment…
did you know one of the best handling hatch – Ford Focus uses torsion beam?
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
I thought Focus uses a much more sophisticated Control Blade rear suspension.rather the conventional torsion like on Vios……..
Roti Naan, it uses a campro engine as found in a regular satria, albeit modified. but hp is only limited to 120hp on wheel for everyone, so there is no point modding the car like crazy.
anyways..its good to see proton continue to feature in racing. protons have raced all over the world pretty successfully. a super 1600 rally satria (previous model) won the british rally championship in its class some years back, as well as wins in rally racing in the middle east with wira, and also gen.2. and of course, there is now the super2000 neo.
OMG! this news just confirm a hypothesis that whoever modify vios towards “race” like cars are a bunch of idiots… hehehe
I used to race for Proton in one media event. They (the R3 guys) really know how to prepare a racecar professionally. Even with my shallow racing experience (I only race karts occasionally) I managed to qualify 11th out of 38 cars in my first race!
The car – which was a Waja 1.6 (standard engine, only fully balanced) – made it easy for me to overtake smaller Satrias (the field was mostly Satrias).
Yo really have to see how the Proton race boys work in the pits. They are seriously focused on preparing a great car for the racers.
As for Faidzil Alang, if you don’t already know, he is such a precise driver. He has tested many, many cars to death, so he understand a car’s dynamics like a superhuman. Syafiq Ali meanwhile, drives the Satria Neo R3 like a man possessed. He’s a true blue karter, so watch out if you have to race beside him. He will eat you alive!
RESPECT to the Proton boys
v0ices said,
August 21, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
LOL @ abtm’s comment…
did you know one of the best handling hatch – Ford Focus uses torsion beam?
LOL YOURSELF,
Get ur facts right
ROFL… Plus Highway decals pwned all…
Satria NEO CPS 1.6 will roll out after the Persona SE.
Good Luck Proton!
driving this neo will be a sure fun
theking said,
August 22, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Satria NEO CPS 1.6 will roll out after the Persona SE.
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Sauce? What’s taking them so long anyway, even the IAFM isnt released on the Neo if im not wrong…..
Can the Campro be so reliable? I heard it’s chunky like biscuits. FRAGILE!
Throughout my experience commenting at this blogsite, I have never seen the lack of bashers in an article about proton.
Maybe all of them hitched a ride on a Hilux to PP.
I still have the booking fee receipt on a manual Neo that I ask the sales guy to postpone until this Satria CPS came out.
Don’t really care about the IAFM. Just the CPS will do thank you. Maybe its the Satria Neo CPS MME Edition? Yeah that would beat the Renaultsport R127 Clio in terms of long model names.
theking said,
August 22, 2008 @ 8:51 am
Satria NEO CPS 1.6 will roll out after the Persona SE.
———————————————–
Sauce? What’s taking them so long anyway, even the IAFM isnt released on the Neo if im not wrong…..
—————————–
i suspect proton are only concentrating on the volume sellers right now, like persona and saga, and the upcoming new mpv of course.
the neo is a niche model, and doesnt sell as much. as their resources are limited, seems like they only choose to concentrate on what will gurantee more sales at this time which is the prudent and smart thing to do i think.
bobdbilder said,
August 22, 2008 @ 10:04 am
Throughout my experience commenting at this blogsite, I have never seen the lack of bashers in an article about proton.
—————————————————————-
hmmm, missing the bashing of Proton?
Great job, Proton guys!
IMHO, Neo is the best looking car by P1. If only the make a sedan version of it.. instead of Persona.
Hi Roti Naan
Not really missing. Just knowing that Neo kicks Vios a$$ is a great pleasure. I would think that this is the R3 Neo that they’re racing in bare-bones kit. But having no response from the other camp is the icing on the cake. But honestly even in stock form comparison a Vios can’t carve a curve handsomely like a heavy Waja. And that’s what circuit racing is about. Look at the camber angle on that Neo. You know its setup for the curves.
Not too long ago, in a Discovery Real Time show, a UK tuner said that its easy peasy to make a fast car reliable, but its really hard work trying to get a reliable car go fast.
ALPINA BMW said,
August 21, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
i still can’t fathom why the satria neo sells so badly in malaysia, its the best looking proton of all
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wow dis is da 1st time ever i “heard” u said smthing good abt proton. hehehehe~~ did u accidently hit ur head or smthing?
Good Job for Proton R3 Team!
~ReactiX
Axle lol
Neo looks so “Tiger”…
there’s so many Fugly Dugong car in the scene spoilt my mood. And.. what a shame dugong.. ugly, overpriced, overated.. underpowered. hahahaha
Cool Neo. I think beside of the driver and engine, the well know good handling by lotus earlier made tuning suspension more easier. Thai Neo buyer should be proud of this too.
I think, Neo GTI project will start when their MPV start production. Might be 1.8 Campro CPS. 250 – 300hp + Supercharged!
Save the best (Neo GTI) for the last !
But please.. don’t be tooooo late.
if you think this is a cool car…check out the World Rally Neo Car that is FIA compliant….one hot mutha fcuker….
avictar said,
August 22, 2008 @ 5:05 pm
Oww man I watched the video that they’re testing the NEO S2000. a 13 years old white kid driving it wtf. Listen to the exhaust sound! bloody nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SH5jufmLOo
local car and crew racing sucess, very good
very nice front and rear bumper…
Neo CPS E.T.A. end of this year. Neo GTI (cps 1.6 turbocharged approx 170hp) E.T.A. end of next year…Cheers~~
correction, Campro 1.6 turbocharged 225~280HP…
IsaacVky said,
…..”really really good….”
Is he really 13?
The future could be good for the 1500Max, cheap to run cars should be the winning formula to attract more manufacturers. This is one effective way to promote their cars.
But this spec of car is more interesting to watch at tight or small circuit , something that is very common outside, e.g in the UK.
Because of it’s low-powered but good handling, the car doesn’t really look fast at Sepang, much better at Pasir Gudang or old Shah Alam circuit I think. Shame.
i was racing a black vios bikin, W__ 79 to kuantan with my Waja MME end of feb, not kidding, the vios headlight seems looking small at my rear view mirror. Even my Waja MME was stolen last june, i am still proud of it!
Race Rally Research really had redefined the limit. The WPW1691 really a outstanding fast MME Waja! thanks guy,
But R3 masterpieces should get more appreciation by Malaysian, as it was being valued really low by the insurance adjuster.
Oz version Turbocharged Neo R3 will be coming out Early next year, any news or rival from malaysian?
Congratulations!