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It has been a freezing day for yours truly in Valence, France, but I’m not the only miserable one, as disappointment hangs in the air at the Proton camp. After all the hard work and anticipation, the team’s challenge at the Rallye Monte Carlo 2011 ends on the first day of the event.
To be exact, it lasted two stages long. We woke up before the sun rose to reach Col de la Fayolle, a viewing point on SS1. After securing a photography spot, it was torture waiting for the first car to past, thanks to 0 degrees temperature coupled with strong winds – a shivering body makes sharp pics harder to get!
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The huge crowd at the hairpin cheered as the first Skodas and Peugeots zoomed past, followed by the Satria Neo S2000 of P-G Andersson. The best looking car of the event got our yellow contingent excited, but worry creeped in when the sister car of Chris Atkinson was nowhere to be seen.
Turns out that the Atkinson’s run lasted only 700 metres into SS1. An electrical problem caused the ECU to stop working. “It was only five or six corners into the rally, I’ve never retired so early before in my career,” said the dejected Aussie when we met him at the service park. He added that the car ran without any issue in two days of testing prior to the event, and the actual cause of the failure is still unknown at this point.
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SS1 was from Le Moulinon to Antraigues, and after 36.9 km, Stephane Sarrazin of Peugeot was leading, followed by IRC defending champ Juha Hanninen of Skoda. It was very tight between the two (only 0.3 seconds separate), but they pulled out a gap from the rest – Guy Wilks and Bryan Bouffier (both driving Peugeots) were 20 seconds behind.
Proton’s now sole driver P-G Andersson finished SS1 in 12th, the best placed non Skoda/Peugeot, one minute behind the leaders.
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We then hopped on our vans heading to St Bonnet le Froid, which was a long mountain road drive away. Happy to beat the jam and reach in time, moods were deflated by news that P-G will not start SS3 after crashing in SS2. Apparently, he knocked his front left side on a rock (or kerb) and the lower arm mounting broke, despite it not looking too serious in the pic below. The Neo couldn’t even limp home and was out of the race.
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So it’s confirmed that Proton is out of this IRC season opener. Other series’ may have a rule that allows cars to compete on the following day if repairs can be done in time, but not IRC. Out for the day means out of the rally. It’s the worst possible start to the season for Proton, but as a team member says: “That’s rallying, anything can happen”. Being here with the team, I share the disappointment.
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Four stages happened today, and Skoda is leading after Day 1 with Hanninen clocking 1:11:33.4. On his Fabia’s tail is another Fabia driven by Freddy Loix 44.5 seconds behind. Behind the Skodas are Petter Solberg, Sarrazin and Guy Wilks, all driving Peugeots. The best placed non Skoda/Peugeot is Julien Maurin’s Fiesta S2000 in 10th.
A big live image gallery awaits you after the jump.
[zenphotopress number=999 album=1890]
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
sad..nvr gv up btw :)
why accident is mysterious? forgot to put in a bolt, and too shame to admit it?
typical?
You too blind to read? Bolts for Electronics? Its just rallying, not about how bad Malaysians are at making cars or what the crap.
chet….you read r not leng cai….one mysterious problem with the ecu…they have no idea why chris ecu didn’t work…..second car accident….
power window failure, perhaps??
They are not use any power window in rallying, kid!! they use polycarbonate plastic replaced glass window!
and that is a good thing, one less thing to worry about. no pesky unreliable pwoer windows. LOL!
Dear Mr. Indon (Javanese),
Ever heard the term, “I’m just kidding”?
On second thought, Protong is very synonym with Power Window failure, it will take Protong another 100 years (with protection) to perfect their power window technology.
I think the rally car got problem with their IAFM module too (tek-tek-tek sound).
LOL on YOU…. not understand english right… one mysterious failure [ ATKO CAR ECU STOP WORKING ], one unfortunate accident [ PQ ANDERSSON ACCIDENT ]
a team member says: “That’s rallying, anything can happen”.
Miliions of Malaysian says: “That’s Proton, anything can happen also”….
You have to understand Hameed Kirakati… In life, in our journey.. Shit always happen dude….
i think, not Millions of Malaysian says that…only u says that. You have to really understand the motorsport tradition, win or losses tu adat laa bro….
what a sad news..
Ouch! That’s hurt..
as expected. made in malaysia ma.
as expected you also made in malaysia maa.. low class mentality
i guess ur singaporean or indonesian rite..not malaysian…hmmm..
LOL…. this car build by Mellors Elliot Motorsport from UK ….
I guess your mother was also made in Malaysia, but does she have an ECU problem too?
my wife worst then my mum oooo…. any chance to enhance? change wife aa?
Becak (rickshaw) looks more reliable then this car
Confirmed! You are Indonesian!
but faaaaaaaar better than your national toy car
yes,,,,WE are malaysian you and me
Tough luck, what to do.. It’s rallying, it happens.. but I agree, don’t give up, come back next time with avengence!
Proton cars.. not there yet! Perhaps need special setup/simulators for Monte Carlo drivers.
oh mannnn…
I told you so.
Another public holiday dream is dashed :(
What??! this is sabotage.
real world exposed your weakness proton.
tipu lagi org ramai,guna lagi engine renault!!!! guna la engine motobot cps tu hahahahahahahahah.the joke of the century la!!! renault powered proton retires after 700 metres hahahahaha
Macam ferrari xpenah jadi bende bangang2 kat team dierorg… cakap pakai otak la beb!!!
Good Luck Proton!!!!
700 meter ok what.. F1 car pn ade yg kat starting grid lg dah x gerak.. ke ko x pernah tengok f1 race?
Year 2000 Rally Monte Carlo. 3 Peugeot 206 & Subaru Impreza driven by Richard Burns, didnt even start the rally because of cold weather. What the heck!
Although is quite a sad starting, but atleast they tried…hopefully they will bounce back soon…Good Luck Proton!!
those racing 207 give me an idea how to sticker my 207!
Like that crew said, that’s rallying.
Better luck next time.
Were there any differences between pro driver and so-so driver in terms of ‘roughness’
Its a sad ending. Can we bash proton with this reliability issue?
Dun gvup.
Ouch, i bet Atkinson and Andersson will drive peugeot/skoda next time around
haihh.. feel so sad.. spoil my day.. =(
Sad to hear the early exit of the Proton Satria – I suppose the freezing weather has frozen the ECU if it can be frozen!
nice one man
shit happens..better luck next time! = ) keep it up guys!
Well.. In the end is still a Proton…
well in the end its littlefire that give the comment..never been any constructive..luckily u r not malaysian..
littefire not a malaysian?
no wonder…
eh… how come you know his not malaysian?
hehe..i’m just guessing cos he never support malaysian product..involve in this rally really make me proud as a malaysian.but he never…i wonder why..
Sorry bro, i only support local drivers + local tune cars especially Karamjit Singh team.. I just felt sorry for him not getting more publicity…
yeah yeah…like u are going to say and give positive comment if all from locals..if perodua did enter rally i’m sure u will give support..eventhough perodua is not totally malaysian..its true rite?
truth about malaysian = typical malaysian they dont support each other..
:-( its must the same devil that killed the engine of Atknison’s car in APRC Johor last year, and also started the engine back itself. Must find a gud “bomoh” for MEM team.
Come on Proton, this setback should be the stepping stone for a better rally next time out….work out that electrical problem
Lesson of the day:once cap ayam forever cap ayam,retired after 700 meters!!! shame on u proton.develop yr own engine.not using obsolete renault unit la.buat malu negara jer
people dont get dino wrong.. He is trying hard to persuade Proton to build his own engine.. depends on other’s people engine.. that’s what happened now. sad
Owh, I don’t get him wrong, he’s the wrong one..any mechanics to change this faulty stud?
cap ayam? tak nampak ke lambang harimau tu?
ayam dengan harimau pun tak kenal ke?
Lambang harimau yang diambil dari kartoon Thundercat?
LOL on you… the car retired because of ECU problem not engine… please read la before comment…
no use la telling them. bashers never read.
good luck proton.. i wish you all the best
Wah, Proton bashers have a lot of fun today. Just 1 race failure and it got whacked like there is no tomorrow. I wonder how Malaysian sport scene going to progress if every failure is condemned.
Lucky we have people like Rajagobal who never give up with his Harimau Malaya team. Hopefully the same will goes with this rally team. Never give up on the first hurdle.
Bashers are always bashers; stupid and arrogant.
Proton car always retired because of reliability problem… since they PARTICIPATE IRC & APRC the problem still occur until now !!!! …
and if you win 1 race, you give 1 public holidya.
world class mentality right? when ppl wins world cup, they did not declare public holidya also.
juara kampung. win small race, public holiday.
lose one race, tak per la. jgn bash, susah ati tau? kekeke. low class.
bg cuti pun x ok.. kalau x bg cuti pun ader harinya ko ponteng jgak kan? if not fake MC.. appara.. so dpt cuti enjoy je la.. haha
err… Proton did win APRC in china but we didnt get public holiday… and u sound like a politician…
True true.
Supporters will always be supporters, stupid, baseless, factless, timid, obedient and arrogant.
Same thing for bashers.
supporter will support whether lose or win… only glory hunter will support for glory only…
Can’t u guys remember, Malaysia lost to Indonesia at the first match and ironically Malaysia wins also from the Indonesia in the final. In sports, anything can happen.
SAD..BUT DNT GIV UP..TRY AGAIN 4 OUR FUTURE AUTOMOBILE..ITS NOR EASY 2 BE PERFECT..
As a consolation do remember that THIS is Monte! Anything can happen and the final result can be very different from what we see on Day One. It doesn’t really reflect the performance of the drivers/cars.
hope CUSCO tuning will minimize such problem (lower arm mounting) and neo will be much more reliable rallying machine.. this story remind me how unfortunate owen hargreaves first debuted since his last injury which saw he only manage to play only 27 second before take out from the pitch, not because he is not good just only shit does happen..
make sense dude..
Bad luck has once again struck the team. What a shame. Perhaps they should consult Joey Yap for Feng Shui advice or some local bomohs to get rip the bad luck.
Anyhow there still more racers to go. Hope it didnt end in disarray.
ohhh..so sad.. never give up thou
semua orang yg berjaya mesti melalui kegagalan..hope proton will learn and beats other teams back on next stage..1 failure doesnt mean total failure,its just a stepstone for the team to work harder.go proton! i’ll support u for this rally!
Good attempt…try again. Read the book – ‘Dare to Fail’ – it’s about success…no success without failure..some people feel proud condemning others as if they have nothing to do.. without trying how do we know that we’re good or not…so just give ur support when needed. Good try Proton..
U are wrong, success achieved after you learn from failure and mistake. For P1, they make mistakes all the time, never learn and aroogant bunch…..
so what, they Dare to Fail……resulting them Fail to Doom…..
who says P1 never try enter rally before…??? they never learn….!!!!!
don’t give up….try again..
“Out for the day means out of the rally”..
wonder how if F1 use the same rule too..
cannot la.. if all use the same rule. the world will be boring.
Well, that’s life. shit happens. So what’s the big deal. We are meant to learn from mistakes. So, come back next time with a hunger to win. Good luck and all the best!
Proton bashers can go die. As if you dont have your own weaknesses. XP
things like these happen to even the best teams. so, it is perfectly normal. electronics while being good do bring along their own fair share of problems.
Maybe the Proton car is competitive but the setup reliability isn’t. Need to relook at the setup reliability again. Proton just need to beat any of the Skoda/Peugeut/Ford and it will be a victory – good for advertisement.
Aww man, really feel bad for them. Don’t worry, Proton, this isn’t the end.
Good attempt, keep up the good job
maybe they should stop running with gems eletronics……go for magneti marelli ecu or something….
its normal la,, racing dowh… btw the Pug look awsome!
we not live by luck but by 888k. so no good luck for u proton. i think u should change the neo to savvy la. savvy is tough eventhough hit to lrt line like i saw it advert some back years.
Dear All,
From my opinion, the ECU did not work becoz the weather is too cold la, happens to Peugot and Subaru also last time, the have an experience, thats why didnt happen to them anymore…
Proton, good luck nex time ok? were all counting on u !
i hope this is not sabotage.a rising star from the east is in the making after mitsubishi & subaru.
You can hired the best driver in the world,but if u continue with the inferior product like this,better do traffic light race la beb!!!!! like all proton supporters out there!!!! so ah beng!!!!!
no pain no gain.. success not begin with -ve mind like urs..
PG Andersson just confirmed to do full IRC season on Rally Radio, good for Proton then.
Karamjit Singh drove a Proton and won a few championships.
I’m pretty sure this team will win sooner or later because they didn’t give up on the car. Got problem, they do their best to rectify it. (and their problems are way bigger than power window not functioning).
Exactly. Sadly though, some Malaysian when they failed, they will blame it to everybody else, blame their cats, blame their Indonesian maids and blame James May.
They never want to look on positive side and strive to be better. Proton is trying to do that under new management and why can’t we give a damn chance? But, I still sided with the people who wish that current tax regime be eliminated and no more protection to Proton and any other so called national car manufacturers.
Sorry but Karamjit actually drove an Evo that was rebadged as a Proton.
most of you lot dont even watch rallying, yet are running your mouths off like you drove group B cars around monte in the ’80s.
Lets visit to the mind of Proton Basher..lets the adventure begin :
1) Because of goverment protection, they were ‘pressured’ to buy Proton
2) Even tho they afford the mother of all car – Honda City/Toyota Vios with 9 year installment, they dont have the spare money to burn.so they need to park their fantastic machine at yellow line just to save RM1 and then create traffic jam at other housing area slip road just to save 90 cent toll
3) Their other mother jesus of all car is Mitsu EVO(Lancer) .. imagine their frustration that their beloved fantastic sport machine now is downgraded to PROTON!
let us visit the mind of a proton fanboy….
after 25 years still waiting….
still nothing….
Waiting for?
I’m not a proton fanboy..yes i drive a Honda City but there is no reason for me to bash blindly..the reason i give the comment above is that i found it nonsensical that everyone blaming Proton for high prices that they need to paid for son of car god – Toyota/Honda..saying that it was to ‘protect’ Proton…hey please screw your brains out! you think gov care about Proton? Proton give profit to government? How much? Hutang banyak ada la! The reason the imprted car is pricier is because they need that REVENUE..it totalled up around billions for jesus sake! So stop blaming Proton and start putting your anger to the gov because utilizing the imported car tax to jack up their coffer! Stupid basher…
“Even tho they afford the mother of all car – Honda City/Toyota Vios with 9 year installment, they dont have the spare money to burn.so they need to park their fantastic machine at yellow line just to save RM1 and then create traffic jam at other housing area slip road just to save 90 cent toll” — must be you then since you drive a City.
why? you got no money to fill up your honda since the price of ron97 went up to 2.30 is it? so now have to bn’s cyber bitch?
while you blindly bash those who seek the liberty of a free car market, the bn is robbing us blind with their mega-billion projects and white elephants. who want somebody to bash to go bash them.
hutang?!siapa yang buat negara Msia tersayang hutang keliling pinggang? ask yourself lah! it aint the proton bashers. u moron!
Maybe Jeremy Clarkson sabotaged the cars. LOL
This two cars were driven by TG Blokes in Top Gear Australia Ashes episode.
Sabotage ???
Damn.. Satria Neo is the only ‘ambassador’ for Proton to go world wide..
Lotus second that..
After all effort. yes its rallying anything can happen, even for those top rank team. For Proton pls learn from ur mistake….I think electrical problem should be identified if you have expert know each part on ur electrical system.
So sad but please bounce back and win baby!!
RFID ….
maybe need to change yellow colour to blue?
(malaysian football team kata yellow kurang ong)
but far better your toy car..
haha… kuning kaler di raja .. biru kaler rakyat jelata.. people’s power kot hahaha..
well im pretty sure they didnt use Siemens ECU..paling kurang Haltech kot.. whatever it is, they gotta prepare more for the worst case scenario on another stage..
Paul good news.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/21/nation/20110121151016&sec=nation
Airbags in all locally-made saloon cars by next year?
This is good move, next should include ABS & ESP as standart also!!!
Syed Zainal must just have a pleasant holiday in Monte Carlo
dont give up !!!
Hopefully if not in the rally, this two car magnate can drift in malaysia drift series….