Proton will have a new pair of hands driving the Satria Neo S2000 at the upcoming Monte Carlo Rally from 18-22 January. It has been announced that two-time Junior World Rally champion Per-Gunnar Andersson will drive for Proton at the 2011 season opener of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
“It’s great to be joining the Proton team for Monte, I can’t wait to get the testing started. It’s been a couple of years since I was on this rally the last time, but I have always made good stage times there and it’s a rally I like.
“Drivers tend to like grip from the car, so a dry Monte would be nice, but if we have a lot of snow it’s always fantastic to drive in these conditions,” said the Swede, who is already hoping to extend his time with Proton.
“For now, we are with Proton for Monte, but we will be talking straight after the rally to see what is possible for the future. I’m very happy to join a team which is looking forward to a good future in the sport,” he added.
Andersson, a former Suzuki works driver, has been linked to race seats with Ford and MINI in next year’s WRC. The other Satria competing in Monte Carlo will be driven by former Subaru WRC man Chris Atkinson. Alister McRae doesn’t feature in this rally, but will be part of Proton’s assault on the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Proton ended APRC 2010 on a high after capturing a 1-2 finish in China.
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As long as the driver is Finnish, nothing could go wrong!
LOL… sorry brader… unfortunately ‘for you’… it could go ‘wrong’… coz he’s from Sweden! ehehe
I see. Well they all looked the same to me hahah.
skay… onest mistake dud
all scandinavian looks alike! good race driver as well!
still from Scandinavian region
well, it’s quite insteresting since chris atkinson willing to drive for proton given the fact that he used to be in subaru’s and citroen’s team…maybe proton did pay him quite a fortune, but taking into consideration being him as one of WRC challenger against the best, i.e. loeb, gronholm, hirvonen,etc…he also has a reputation to maintain..it does show that he do believes that proton can give him a good result…kudos to proton!!
He couldn’t get any sponsorship to fund his WRC drive in 2009 and had to settle with Proton in S2000 this year, which is a shame for such a great driver. However, in a way this is good news for Proton for having such an impressive driver to help in their development.
I hope the car finished in tact and in top 5 position, good luck! Monte Carlo rally is epic but also a difficult rally!
foreign driver drive our malaysian car nothing wrong. It actually help our proton improve our result.
Proton is a car that looks and performs better if the driver is a foreigner!
Or so at least that’s how I gather from the comments here :)
Why proton must get mat salleh as drivers. Karamjit Singh is a world class driver. What’s wrong getting him to drive??
karamjit singh too old la bro.. we need young driver who can conquer rally stage..
Karamjit Singh did drive the S2000 once before, but he had problems adjusting to left hand drive which led him to crash in a rally. So…
If Proton can make a leap with their reliability issue then I have no doubt PG can deliver some impressive result in Monte Carlo, for he is known to deliver even when driving less impressive rally cars (back in the days when he drove Suzuki).
However, realistically I wouldn’t expect much unless, as I said, that Proton can make a leap within a few months. I am still unimpressed with the last China Rally though, hopefully they can prove me wrong this time.
The problem is our country do not have decent rally drivers who can perform in international stage after karamjit singh, and Karamjit is now old and outperformed by younger rally drivers. Sponsorship is lacking as well so the next best thing is to have a foreigner as a driver, even better a Finnish.
There always a term in motorsports saying if you want to win races, hire a Fin!
hope proton can enter WRC on someday….& also have a high performance car like lancer evo…& impreza sti by after a JWRC experience for develop the car.
I will feel proud if engine and gearbox are from proton
s2000 car can only use transmission from certain company…not simply use what ever the transmission they feel like to use,only x-trac,sadev,ricardo transmission is allowed.
as for the engine,even if it’s a proton it’s no goin to make any sense since the block and head is billet.
only the design of the block and cylinder head design is the same from the road goin…even that the material is different it’s made out of billet.
the rest is one off parts.
Come on proton! Start selling that R3 turbo Satria Neo! It’s your best chance at creating a cult following your brand just like subaru and mitsubishi… or even the ford focus RS….
It’s just a matter of success or failure, and if you never do it you’ll never succeed. :D
WRC next year using 1.6 turbo engine. Hopefully it happen to Proton, wif big wings, 300bhp…and nimble faster than s2000