Karamjit Singh won Round 2 of the Malaysian Rally Championship in Johor last weekend. The victory was all the more special as his 2WD 1.6 litre Proton Satria Neo R3 Rally overcame 4WD turbocharged cars from Mitsubishi and Subaru. It was the first time a 2WD 1600 car has won the overall Malaysian Rally in the 10-year history of the MRC in Johor.
The Flying Sikh dominated proceedings by winning nine of the 14 special stages of the rally, which ran over three days in Johor Bahru and Kota Tinggi. Known as one of the world’s toughest rally events, conditions were made worse by torrential rain turning the gravel trails into a slippery mudfest, causing many accidents.
Karamjit won six out of eight stages in Leg 1, building a 1:45 lead over Chinese driver Fan Fan in an Evo X. 23-year old Proton R3 Team junior driver Kenneth Koh in the other Neo put in an inspired drive to climb up to fifth from last place after incurring a five minute penalty in the first stage. He later retired from fourth due to a broken driveshaft.
Karamjit started where he left off by winning one of three stages in Leg 2. As the stages were drying out, Fan Fan clawed back three stage victories only to lose more time after a big spin. The leader went on to win two more stages to seal victory with a huge 2 minutes and 47 seconds lead.
“I never drove so intense in a rally in a long time. It was very hard work. The Proton R3 team did a fantastic job and provided me with a car that was trouble-free and performed well even under challenging conditions,” he said. With a win each between Karamjit and Fan Fan, the championship is very open. The third round of the MRC will be held in Negeri Sembilan in October.
The Malaysian Rally in Johor was also the fourth round of the 2014 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Indian driver Gaurav Gill won the APRC event in his Team MRF Skoda Fabia S2000. He beat Australian Mark Pedder (Evo) and China’s Jun Xu (Fabia S2000). With the win, Gill is back in the title race, and he now trails leader Jan Kopecky by just eight points.
Watch Karamjit Singh in action in Driven Web Series, where he takes on our own (fake) Flying Sikh. Like in the rally, he took on, and beat, more powerful turbocharged machines handled by less skilled drivers :)
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Haters gonna hate
woo 2wd wins over 4wd..
IKR. Why can’t we just be proud Malaysians?
Tahniah Sir Karamjit and Proton R3 team!
use campro engine??damn powderful….go go go super flying sikh and proton r3 team
those neo is light n buttless both mitsu n subaru heavy..obviously flying singh can win.
“obviously” is not a good word. rally ain’t that obvious bro..
nooo,it is impossible.
they must be using bmw 7 series engine inside and put campro engine cover….
i wonder if they used the 170+ hp version of r3 tuned non turbo campro engine…… is it???
those 4wd turbocharged have advantages in so many ways.. but still cant cut the time .. karamjit is near 2 minutes ahead… hohoh
That is the reason why I bought a Proton Satria Neo wuhuu
Getting ahead of yourself now aren’t you? lol
motorhead will write:
who cares about rally? it is dangerous. the most important things are FC and practicality. even subaru and mitsubishi are far below than Perodua.
Obviously you are one of those “katak bawah tempurung” n not very smart kind of guy, condeming subaru n mitsu is worse than perodua really?!!!…clearly u never drive either subaru nor mitsu except for your perodua
obviously, u do not follow Paultan that much. please, get to know who Motorhead is.
and obviously, u fail to detect my sarcasm
Obviously to you too.. you didn’t fllw paultan much.. & fail to fllw my comments on Subaru other a few brands… I also never said Daihatsu is superior than others. . But indeed.. it is the most reliable car in the world. . Check the reliability index again..
You don’t want reliability. . Thats your problem. . May be you like cars that broke down all times. .
Who knows. .
Honestly. . I ve enough Peroduas. . & thx to P2. . I have wonderful life & work.. save me money & time, never fail go to work.. I ll move on other brands. . & of course. . Still japs milo tin..
Haha.. yeah go ahead buy Neo.. for your info if you ve forgotten. . Neo is a rebadge. . Hatchback derived from Wira platform. . In Japs last time known as Mira.. I still remember many people use it’s parts from half cut shop.. it is the only survive Wira aka Lancer platform till today.. engine change to campro.. (due to end partnership with mitsubishi).
Since you like hi FC.. go ahead buy this car.. I like people go poor.. or no money for petrol.. then ride bikes. . Watch out.. A Myvi or Axia may accidentally hit you.. hahaha. .
I also like when you fall into financial traps.. low RV.. hi maintenance. . So I can take over your girlfriends.. widows, girls etc…
I almost. . Honest.
okay. good luck =)
duh, get your facts right. do tell me, in what textbook did u learn that satria neo is a rebadge product?
satria of course, from mirage, but satria neo totally developed in house, not some perodua receive n delivery job.
hahaha. you should read more and experience motorsport. satria neo rebadged? DEFUQ.
Typo.. Satria Mirage.. no Mira.
It just goes to show the difference a driver can make. Legend…
Karamjit ni, bagi Kancil pun leh menang rally.
but are u sure Kancil can rally?? sure it wont be turtled?? Hehehe
way to go flying sikh (thumbs up) ;)
A Malaysian driving a modified Malaysia car on a Malaysia rally track…. I don’t think he can lose… unless car problem…
Congrats….this might b the last of a satria breed, wd we ever see a new satria model again? I highly doubt it considering how the market is evolving. ..
Give the Flying Singh anything and he will make’em fly to the finish line *thumbs up*
Tahniah Sir Karamjit Singh . Malaysia R3 Team thumbs up for you. ☺
Now this is the real flying Sikh. Not one of those you see on Driven :D
“R3 Super negative Camber Over-teke”
better than lee chong wei
Both are Legendary.
nicol david is most legendary
later they will come out with a New using an ‘improved’ Honda’s old b16a engine lah…. 170ps for the Neo is not so bad kan ?
perhaps this time they will improve the low end torque a bit lah so that the Noe can really fly…wuuuhooooooooooo
mr karamjit is by far the sportsman who is the most underrated underappreciated person in all of Malaysian motorsport. He deserves so much more recognition than he gets.
I felt sad that Karamjit never seem to have a proper opportunity to compete at the top level due to sponsorship issues. When you consistently win or be competitive with a lesser car, you know the field is definitely below your level.
He’s more worthy to be bequeathed a Datuk-ship than a lot others “Datuks”.
I felt sorry for our flying singh, with such a talented skill in rally but yet no big sponsor for him. what a waste of talent.
if this neo is using the same engine with the one proton always bring to their roadshow then i wont be that surprised.
it does not sound like a turbo but goes like one.probably down to the gearing.
only downside of the neo is that its 2wd compared to its competitor.
then again the driver plays a super major role.
Using true blue Campro Cps engine with modifications…Advantage of the car is the sure handling.
Consider great for overcoming the threats from Subaru and Mitsubishi 4WD monsters
Anyway kudos to Karamjit.. if 4WD you can win World rally..
Unfortunately. . We all know Proton is under financial woes.. & only give you a 2WD car.. 1600cc also.. (since there’s no other engines left.. 1.8, 2.0, 2.4.. all not available).. no more money for R&D too.
Fortunately. . After trying so hard (written there) you still win.
Tahniah.
Now hopefully gov can give more money to P1 for R&D after this win.
Almost honest too..
Motorhead.
I think karamjit should joint the oversea rally team to show the would that malaysian rally driver is world class. malaysia boleh !
correction : to show the world.
ive been hearing him since i was kid. how old is he already?
Rallying – insane skills. Karamjit Singh – Malaysia rallying legend!
Seriously wonder what he can achieve if he is sponsored to compete internationally.