Proton scored points in last weekend’s Barum Czech Rally Zlin, Round 7 of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In front of a 300,000-strong crowd, the Satria Neo S2000 of P-G Andersson finished in ninth overall, but teammate Giandomenico Basso ended the weekend in 13th, after a puncture killed his hopes for points.
The rally was won by Jan Kopecký in a Skoda. Freddy Loix, also in a Fabia S2000, was just beaten by 1.2 seconds and had to settle for second. Championship leader Juho Hänninen finished third, giving Skoda the entire podium in its home rally.
The competition in this round was tougher than ever, with 29 Super 2000 cars making the start in a field of 123 competitors. Based in Zlin, the rally is known for attracting big crowds, but with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees for much of the event, attendance hit a record-breaking 300,000 on the bumpy asphalt roads in the south-east of the Czech Republic.
There were 248.48 km of competitive stages run over a total distance of 619.73 km. 34 cars failed to finish.
“We’re very pleased with the way the weekend has gone. Although we’ve had some punctures and some minor off-road excursions, but at the end of the event we have shown a significant step forwards in the development of the Proton Satria Neo S2000. From where we were 12 months ago, we have halved the gap to the cars at the front of the field and that represents real progress,” said Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, Head of Proton Motorsports.
“We have shown what we are capable of. We also have no illusions here and know that there is still much work to be done with the car. We believe we are on the right track here and know what areas of the car we will focus our attention on next,” he added.
Buoyed by its improved IRC pace, the Proton team now heads to Hungary for the next round of the series, the Canon Mecsek Rally on September 9-11.
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go! go! Proton team!..
for proton, driver dont have to be in top 10 to score constructor points, as long they are in top 20 will get points, points for driver only for top 8
such a pembohong
“5.4 Manufacturer points:The categories listed in 5.1 and 5.2 will be awarded to the best 2 finishing cars of each eligible make, according to 5.5. All available points will be allocated even if a Manufacturer’s car finishes outside of the overall top 10.
Whatever the IRC calendar, 7 results shall count, including a minimum of 6 European events and 1 oversea (if any) within the 7 scoring rounds. For the avoidance of doubt, Cyprus and Ukrain are considered as European Events. ”
“5.5 IRC applies the FIA scoring points system system for all the classifications (Art. 5.1 to 5.4) as follows:
1st: 25 points
2nd:18 points
3rd: 15 points
4th: 12 points
5th: 10 points
6th: 8 points
7th: 6 points
8th: 4 points
9th: 2 points
10th:1 point”
nice one..
but i wonder what Proton had in mind, i mean the future of Proton Motorsport. of cos there’ll be new series of it / satria neo, yet after i found out post-Frankfurt Motor Show 2011, Lotus is gonna produce and sell their own Rally car, Elise perhaps, which soon to be decide on what stage, IRC or WRC..im a little bit concern of our own Proton investment in Motorsport..particularly in Rally.
will there be anymore Satria Rally or Satria is going to disguise in new cloth / elise frame??? or since the boss of R3 is Prince of Drift, will we expect to see rear wheel drive Satria playing on different venue @ D1??
still, kudos to Proton & Lotus management for doing a good thing, Lotus is selling well in China.. maybe someday we might see Lotus own cashflow will be much larger than Proton had..after almost 2 decade, time to pluck the fruit i guess.. haha better late than never, indeed.
FYI a rally car for FIA events needs to be a 4 seater. The only 4 seater lotus now is the evora, and f rally only suitable at most, tarmac venues…
dude..that’s why they gonna show off their Lotus Rally spec car at Frankfurt motor show..
i dont know bout FIA rules but i see a lot of Lotus been used by private competitors as a rally vehicle. maybe there will be new version of evora.
fact is, lotus is eager to carve their name back on the globe. the idea is, competing on all major event including rally.
in the mean time, proton had their own motorsport division which compete o the highest level @ IRC and possibly WRC in the future. so if Lotus really make it happened, rally spec vehicle, then what about proton own motorsport ambition..remain domestic??? or both name compete on the same vanue..lotus and proton???
its common for cars like the lotus to be used as rally cars. but they are mainly tarmac only cars. and are only suitable for european rallies which are mainly on that surface. in europe… you can see cars like the Z4, porsche 911 GT3, and even the nissan 370 rallying… but they are still slower than purpose built rally cars like the S2000 category cars.
also.. lotus is lotus, and i suspect proton will continue to have their own plans.
boo booo
proton for not using malaysian driver
LOL
hahahahahaha….satria neo laju wooo!!!!
haiyaa jepang oso use mat salleh maa…
Proton scored points… what a waste of web space and bandwidth
DSZ…u are fired!!!!
next…
just like your reply DSZ ;)
They’re done but the car is still working?
congrats proton… even japs in early days… their cars were just laughing stock in US…. but now who laughing last? hummer? Oldsmobile? they just extinct like dinosaur… give our chance…..
got “meh” feel to choose..? aahahaakzz
must be inspired by fellow “cicak”
haters gonna hate, if tak mampu buat tak mampu