LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup

LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup

We’re reporting to you live from the Monte Carlo Rally, which is the opening leg of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). Yours truly is shivering in the town of Valence, France at the moment, which will be “base camp” for the next few days. By the way, the Monte Carlo Rally doesn’t start in glamorous Monaco, but ends there – the first 9 stages will be held around Valence, the final 4 around Monaco.

LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup
Click to enlarge

We’re of course here to cheer on our own Proton R3 Rally Team, which will be up against the big boys from Peugeot, Ford and Skoda, last year’s IRC champion. Big name drivers include Juha Hanninen (last year’s IRC driver’s champ with Skoda), Guy Wilks (Peugeot UK, ex Proton driver) Freddy Loix, Francois Delecour, Toni Gardemeister, Stephane Sarrazin (Peugeot Le Mans driver) and Petter Solberg driving a 207. Subaru fans will know their ex-WRC champ.

There will be 120 vehicles contesting the historic Rallye Monte Carlo, which turns 100 years old this year. It’s Proton’s first time contesting the event.

LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup
Contest winners with Chris Atkinson and P-G Andersson

Piloting the two Satria Neo S2000 cars (which look really fetching in new 2011 livery) will be Chris Atkinson and Per-Gunnar Andersson. In case you’re wondering, this is a top lineup; Aussie Chris is a former Subaru WRC works driver who finished third here in 2008, while Swede P-G is a double JWRC champ with Suzuki.

The rally starts tomorrow, but we’ve briefly met with the team already in a “shakedown” session where winners of “The Rallye to Monte Carlo” contest Mohd Akram and Nik Mohd Azhar got memorable taxi rides by the drivers.

LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup

LIVE from the Monte Carlo Rally – Proton R3 Rally Team kicks off IRC 2011 with improved car and new driver lineup“We’re not too concerned about being the underdogs, instead, this plays in our favour as we devote our focus and attention to achieving the desired pace, performance and reliability in pursuit of results.

“While it is too early to place any expectations, we believe we have a race-winning car, two world class and very talented drivers and a competitive team to make a big enough impression in IRC,” said Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, Head of Proton Motorsports.

Team Principal Chris Mellors also declined to put any targets, saying that while the team is definitely gunning for wins and the championship in the APRC, IRC is a tougher challenge and it’s hard to know until racing starts tomorrow. When asked about the contract negotiations with P-G, the Jeremy Clarkson lookalike boss said that it’s going well and we’re likely to see the Swede in yellow for the rest of the IRC season.

We’ll bring you updates from the rally starting tomorrow, where four stages will be held in the mountains around Valence. Stay tuned!

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • armandd on Jan 18, 2011 at 8:52 pm

    I believe the Neo will make some surprises there..

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  • good luck!!!!!!….

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  • seniaku.com on Jan 18, 2011 at 9:19 pm

    wow! what a good looking car.. i which i had done it to my satria neo. :)

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  • Lovely car.

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  • Why is Alirtair McRae not driving anymore???

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    • Danny Tan (Member) on Jan 19, 2011 at 12:44 am

      Alister McRae will be driving for Proton in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC)

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      • capone on Jan 19, 2011 at 10:35 pm

        any info on who will pilot the 2nd car in APRC? should still be Atkinson rite?

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  • Why is Alirtair McRae not driving anymore??

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  • Where is Alistair McRae?

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  • Juinn on Jan 18, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    bang the Focus, crash the Impreza, smoke the Evo!

    Proton Rulez!

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  • DICKYBIRD on Jan 18, 2011 at 9:36 pm

    thundercats! hOOO!

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  • Unavailable spare part... on Jan 18, 2011 at 10:34 pm

    Wow… I hope u can update the news as soon as possible… usually get the live update from international website… Please proton no more reliability issue…

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  • Citroën ds3 on Jan 18, 2011 at 11:32 pm

    Really excited with proton’s involvement in rally.. I can’t wait for the tech to be transferred to the road cars…

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  • enchekere on Jan 19, 2011 at 12:36 am

    owh i just noticed one of the contest winner is my friend. lucky him!

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  • civicEK on Jan 19, 2011 at 1:29 am

    gud luck proton!! :D

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  • trav_da_man on Jan 19, 2011 at 1:46 am

    By bringing in the turbocharged 1.6 engine and the Satria Neo S2000 can be a contendor for the WRC series. I just wondering for that will they be using the newly developed Campro turbocharged or source it from Renault?

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    • taboogen on Jan 19, 2011 at 9:04 am

      the turbocharged is still in developement lah…. the spec for S2000 cars is 2 liter NA only

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      • so all those evos and subarus run on na??? lol

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        • fazron80 on Jan 19, 2011 at 7:14 pm

          LOL? why u laugh. U must have PHD in rally. U really know your stuff. Evos and subarus have S2000 cars!!! really man.

          Know your stuff before trying to show off to everyone like you knew everything. Study 1st about the IRC and the S2000 rally cars. Evos and Subarus? Totally clueless.

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        • capone on Jan 19, 2011 at 10:32 pm

          yes there are turbocharged evos and subarus in the IRC but those are Group N cars. the s2000 spec are a totally different class.

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  • ZOOM NEO on Jan 19, 2011 at 8:20 am

    go Proton..smoke those Japs n europe car..

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  • Happy Man on Jan 19, 2011 at 8:21 am

    Gambate!!!

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  • Seksyen6 on Jan 19, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    That’s my Housemate next to Andersson!!

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  • goog luck PROTON…….

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  • spike on Jan 19, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    It’s over. Just after SS2 both Protons are out. Quite disappointing to be honest.

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  • spike on Jan 19, 2011 at 8:48 pm

    What’s worse, PG Andersson is now going for Fiesta WRC in Rally Sweden…

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    • capone on Jan 19, 2011 at 9:22 pm

      bro PG was never offered a season contract by proton. so not really bad news. besides wrc and irc rounds dont overlap. and another thing, he is only confirmed for WRC sweden (his home rally), not an entire campaign with the fiesta.

      on to the IRC, really happy we get eurosport on astro. checked the guide, we are getting all stages live except ss3 and ss9. really eager to see more of the neo in action. but atkinson is out with an electrical failure on ss1 and PG crashed in SS2. only managed to see PG live in action on SS1. hope both of them return on day 2.

      as for expectations, dont go hoping we beat the peugots and skoda straight out the gate. like what the team principal said, the APRC crown is a realistic target for this year.

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    • tokmoh on Jan 19, 2011 at 10:05 pm

      Dang, so fast edi change team, at least finish 1 season first la then oni wanna change team -_-

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      • capone on Jan 19, 2011 at 10:28 pm

        did you not read my post? he has not been signed on by proton for an entire season. just the first leg (so far). and he is not changing teams per se. the wrc and irc are 2 different championships. so it is not like he will be driving against proton.

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      • spike on Jan 19, 2011 at 10:30 pm

        As capone said Rally Sweden is not part of IRC and may not interrupt with the IRC programme. However as MEM said if things are going well they may ask him to commit a full season, in which case they may not allow him to compete elsewhere. I was merely pointing out what was confirmed on Rally Radio just now and seems to me the deal with Proton isn’t going too well at the moment.

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  • intermilan on Jan 19, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    aiseh man proton……
    in the midst of watching the live coverage tonight (SS4 day 1) at eurosport and saw the news that both Protons were out as if they weren’t there! one car out after just 700 meter (wah lau!) in stage 1 and another one out in stage 2…

    what a huge huge disappointment… the problematic life of proton in irc continues like normal. i will be glad to see proton able to finish a rally proper. nevermind what place they are getting.

    one news for comfort is that a lot of cars have retired from the rally between stage 1 and stage 3. not only protons.

    this irc round is a straight fight between skoda and peugeot.

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  • Unavailable spare part... on Jan 20, 2011 at 10:41 am

    Haiya… proton car always accident and reliability problem…. if the problem still can’t solve better stop involve in irc rally or change to prodrive to modified the cars…

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