Rome wasn’t built in a day, and in that vein, neither was Proton’s success in motorsport. Through its motorsport division Proton R3, the national carmaker captured numerous victories in both rallying and circuit racing, most recently in the latter with its string of four wins at the Sepang 1000KM endurance race under the R3 banner and five in total for Proton.
Proton R3 has released a series of short videos, each briefly describing the various aspects of what it takes to succeed in motorsports at the national level. Here, the process of taking a conventional, road-going passenger vehicle and dissecting it for the best possible approach towards the making of race-winning cars is illustrated, as well as the benefits offered by the Proton models used.
The national carmaker’s motorsports division also observes grassroots racing in Malaysia, namely within the Malaysia Speed Festival (MSF) from which a wealth of racing talent can be scouted and drawn from, said Proton R3 team principal Gary Lee.
Not only do Team Proton R3 hopefuls have to be quick on track – that’s a given – they also need the right attitude, to be passionate and to be a team player to succeed, says Lee. Team Proton R3 driver Admi Shahrul concurs – racing is ‘more than just about steering and getting on the throttle’; it also takes a lot of discipline and mental strength to succeed or do well in motorsports, he added.
Talent is scouted not just from the driver selection point of view, but also from a technical capability standpoint. Proton R3 works closely with local universities, among them the motorsports department at DRB-Hicom Automotive University of Malaysia, whose students are regularly invited to Proton R3 where they receive guidance towards a professional career in the motorsports industry.
Check out the videos below, and perhaps the budding racers and engineers among you may be even further inspired to pursue your aspirations in this direction. Is the motorsport life for you?
GALLERY: New livery for Proton Saga R3 race car
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Proton R3 practically got this win in the bag. Backed by reliable swedish Ohlins parts inside out
I am waiting for Proton Iriz EV that was showcased 6 years ago. Where is it? Why did Proton make this game over edition instead??
Only you are interested in Iriz EV. Building one car only is too expensive for Proton.
Who cares about Proton Iriz EV. Didn’t you say Proton is game over dy? I’m more worried when is Perodua coming out with game changing Kenari hybrid. 16 years ago they said they will come out with this game changer car but until now habuk hybrid pun tarak. Where is it? Has it been game over dy?
Honestly they got no competition here. No other car manufacturers interested to compete with them, and no other private individuals/companies that gonna outspent them on the development
Nothing to shout here
Honda MY sent their works team to compete yet they lost.
TRD was a factory-backed team last year. We all know how they ended. DNF lol.
All the best for R3!
Tikus only can run in sewage pipes or backlanes.