Karamjit Singh has been associated with Proton for much of his rallying career, having piloted cars bearing the brand’s logo since the 1990s. He has since won six championships at the Asia Pacific level as well as being the first Asian driver to win the FIA Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) in 2002.
Recently, the ‘Flying Sikh’ secured his 17th championship title at age 60, winning the top prize in the 2022 Malaysian National Rally Championship (MNRC). However, at the MRNC awards ceremony held on Sunday (January 15, 2023), Karamjit said he would not continue to compete in Proton for this year’s MNRC, and would instead switch to a Perodua Myvi.
Motorsport is expensive, and according to him, ever since Proton’s strategic partnership with Geely was established in 2017, the local carmaker’s racing division – Proton R3 – has not receive any (budget) allocation for rally racing.
The last time Karamjit drove for Proton R3 was in 2015, where he got behind the wheel of a front-wheel drive Satrio Neo. In that car, he won in the 2WD category of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in 2011 and 2012, while also clinching the 2WD category title in the Malaysian Rally Championship (MRC) from 2013 to 2015.
Karamjit added that Proton R3 had already built an Iriz with a 1.6 litre turbo engine for him in 2016, but the vehicle has not been used for competition and remains in Shah Alam, despite being fully prepared. As such, he purchased a Gen2 4WD Turbo in 2017 that he used for a few years, spending approximately RM500,000 to ready the car for local and overseas competitions. The car was previously used by the Felda Rally Team that debuted in 2007, and was driven by Saladin Mazlan then.
While it may feature a 4G63T 2.0 litre turbo engine and all-wheel drive system lifted from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, the Gen2 rally car is now over 15 years old, requiring Karamjit to find a newer and more competitive machine.
Karamjit said he had attempted to engage with Proton to build a competitive rally car, but he did not get a response. This led to his decision to switch to the third-generation Myvi, which will be built from the ground up with his team – Cisco Racing – for the 2023 MRNC season.
“I’ve always been a fan of Proton. From 1988 until now, I have only driven Proton cars. But unfortunately, we did not receive support from Proton. Since 2017, I bought this car (Gen2) and have spent more than RM500,000 of my own money. Even my EPF money is all gone,” Karamjit said at the MRNC awards ceremony.
He added that his team is now looking for sponsorships to develop a new car, and the boss of the Cisco Racing team – Rabin Nijhar – said that it was time to forget about Proton and switch to Perodua. “It’s a shame change because I am a Proton fan. But what can I do; they did not support us, so we have to change brands,” said Karamjit.
There were plans to drive the Iriz R5 built by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) from the United Kingdom, but the high costs involved made this very unrealistic. At the very best offer, the WRC-ready car retailed for RM900,000, and that’s without any spare parts. A complete package with spares would exceed RM1.5 million to compete in one year, and if it was also used the compete in every round of the APRC, the final bill can hit RM4 million.
Rabin commented that the final specifications of the Myvi-based rally car aren’t finalised just yet, but the idea is to have it meet AP4 regulations. Even so, the car will not be a true AP4 rally car homologated by the FIA, as the initial mission is to partake in the local MNRC. For APRC races outsides the country like in Indonesia, the team Cisco Racing will use a Skoda rally car from abroad that is cheaper in terms of logistics.
Once again, motorsport is expensive, and Karamjit said the development cost of his upcoming Myvi rally car will require at least RM500,000. The 2.0 litre turbo engine and an all-wheel drive system planned for it will likely be sourced from other brands like Mitsubishi or Toyota, with the latter being a higher possibility given Perodua’s close association with Toyota, the parent company of Daihatsu.
It’s worth saying this is Cisco Racing’s own project, and the team expects the car to be ready in about three months before round one of the 2023 MNRC in June. As mentioned, the team is looking for sponsors and says it will meet with Perodua to present its concept in hopes of being sponsored.
Perodua in the world of rallying isn’t new, as there was the Perodua Castrol Rally Team led by Gray Chua. The team fielded machines such as the Kancil 4WD Turbo and Kelisa 4WD Turbo, which competed against Karamjit that represented Proton PERT (Petronas-EON Racing Team). There was also the Myvi 4WD Turbo based on the first-generation model, which was driven by Kan Chee Hong in 2006.
GALLERY: Proton Gen2 4WD Turbo driven by Karamjit Singh
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The flying Sikh would have been a star in WRC if he had proper sponsorship. Seriously hope P2 would be more engaging with him than Proton aka Geely.
all the best to our flying sikh with p2, Malaysians is proud of your accomplishment.
having said that, it’s also understandable on proton’s position, motorsport is expensive, and proton do not have deep pocket to sponsor especially when it is trying hard to turn the company around. thank you, proton, for sponsoring in the earlier years.
Habislah all Proton fanboys especially john, even a famous rally racer doesn’t want to use Game Over Proton anymore
Karamjit has strong spirit for Malaysia
john, tokmoh, Rakyat Malaysia, Celup King etc will be shocked with this news hahahaah!
What a shame and huge loss to legendary driver Karamjit!
It’s real tragic when in fact Proton can afford to waste over half Rm billion for Ricardo engine project alone and all Karamjit was seeking just a peanut from that amount. Smh sigh!
Wish u all the Best!!! U r a true legend in Malaysia’s Motorsport history!
Gr Yaris?
Proton has become a ching chong company ever since Geely’s takeover. Focus only on sales and sales growth.. no priority on growing the brand power of the company through motorsports and even less desire to improve after-sales quality. Typical china company attitude that focuses only on topline numbers.
Geely’s takeover of Volvo has also resulted in plummeting reliability and quality. Who’d have thought we’d see the day when Volvos have failing ABS and vehicle stability systems and had to be recalled for these??
You’re better off with Perodua, Karamjit. All the best.
Lol lowlife like u is such a clown show
Car companies investing in motorsport expect a return for the investment. Proton management decided that the return is not worth the investment. How many cars Proton sold more because of Karamjit Singh’s rallying career? ;)
So did other car companies btw, Toyota for example has the only works team left at Le Mans, all remaining companies dropped out because the return is not worth the investment.
You are right, produa myvi became king without joining rally.
Making money is what keeps a company alive. Playing rally was the time that was driving Proton to the brink of bankruptcy.
It’s principles and thoughts like yours that make a company bankrupt quickly lol
Time sometimes changes pal, there is an era when they have to improve themselves and there is also an era where they can finally stabilize and come back again as long as it is also profitable for them…
I never hate P2 or P1, absolutely love them both …
Proton should focus on Profit, Quality Control, and After Sales first. Before making something cool again like Satria GTi …
Ching chong mentality on display. Make money only maaa.. let’s pray to money.. who cares about brand image, marketing, sponsorship,that sort of thing? Just make money maaa.. Chee choy ching chong maaa..
Sayangnya. If he could get the Iriz, that is much better. MyVi with wobbly body, I believe he will spend a lot to strengthen the Myvi’s structure.
It’s not for the lack of trying. Ching chong commie can’t give a hoot in heck for the Flying Sikh. Hope it’s not because of the Mat Kilau effect. Did the Sikhs abuse tin miners too?
now…. konfirm myvi is king… acknowledged by rally pro.
King recognises king. Perodua dah boleh buat Myvi FS edition.
Myvi GR hehee
Singh recognize King.
Hope race ends as King Singh, Not Sin(gh)King.
Finally the King finally gets a proper King driver. Nothing stopping the King now.
You spent all EPF money on modifying cars?..my wife would chase me out of the house if i do this..LMAO
It’s a wise decision really, For now, Proton is in recovery and developing its company, focusing on revenue and profit so as not to repeat the same mistake…
On the other hand, maybe Perodua can introduce its brand so that it is not always seen as a company that only makes economical and boring cars :V…
Proton is like Liverpool FC stuck in quicksand
No words. I really feel sorry for this guy. He deserves better. Hopefully a Malaysian company will sponsor him.
But Proton is not a Malaysian company anymore, they are a Chinese owned company. With that said, why is the government still giving tax incentive to proton, since they are not a Malaysian company???
All the BEST TO YOU to you Karamjit , hope to see you win more medals with your new Myvi & hope to see you in the headline in the sport section again .
Let’s put it this way. Historically, yes, PERT was Proton (and EON), and they were successful. But Karamjit’s current Gen2 is his own car. No links to the carmaker other than the model itself.
I am OK with Proton not sponsoring or supporting Karamjit or any other sports. They need to focus on building their brand, their business and their reliability. This a long process,, with heavy investments (new factory, new lines, new equipment, moulds and dies etc). When they are loss-making we scold them; here they are trying to make themselves stand proud again we want to bash them again?
You have my support, Proton. Build you business, and do it well. You may have better numbers now but there are many issues out there that needs addressing.
Everything that Proton did for their own good always getting a hate, they trying to do a better but then again ……haters are haters ….
I hope Proton will be succesful in the future …
Sorry ya Mr Flying Singh. Not that we don’t wanna sponsor you but our 1.5 litre 3 cylinder tebo engines WILL blow up in races. Only x50 fapbois think they are unbeatable on highways. The only cars they’ll ever beat are ativa tebo
Jangan cabar! Jom malam ni petronas mrr2 10pm. Kita tengok siapa sampai genting dulu
Why Rally is still a sport? Nobody watch this anymore la. Not even relevant in today’s motorsport, how can people sponsor this anyway?
Syabas our rally hero…move forward.Good Luck
Might as well go work with companies that have already built AP4 rally cars and have proven to be competitive in rallying, rather than start with a platform that has barely seen any proper racing, let alone something as tough and challenging as rallying.
I tell u bro…myvi is the best for the track..trust me…tak dak goyang punya…!!
TQ Karamjit. You’ve made us all proud over the last many years. Shifting to another brand although sad and difficult, maybe an opportunity to even contribute more to the local motorsports scene.
While it’s difficult to understand that Proton wasn’t able to allocate any budget for the R3 division, I’d like to thank R3 for the contributions and the difference they have made on some of the production platform. Car that handles well, stood out amongst crowd and fun to drive were produced.
Though am with another brand these days but Proton, R3 and Flying Singh will always be close to heart. Thank you Sir.
i hope this flying sikh guy will get proper sponsor coz he can go further. Make our country proud!
I hope you manage to recoup your Rm 500k savings / EPF money in the future
Its a shame. While it may be good for Proton survival (to partner with geely), but since then Proton has lost its identify. Such a waste if the R3 division gone just like that. Even proton logo keeps changing. Lol.
The tragedy of this story is that a 60-year old drained his life savings and his retirement savings to compete in a national series that has also lost all its lustre. Its being a big fish in a ditch. Not even a pond. And for what? The high of winning minimal prize money and people calling you the best? Ego won’t pay the bills but it will put you in the poor house when you’re old and gray because all these adoring fans will pay you zero. So wake up and smell the roses.
Also. What would Proton gain competing in MNRC with him? You would the only factory backed team competing against privateers with cars built as passion projects. You win people say you’re a bully. You lose and people say you suck. So why should they gp through the hassle and yes…despite all the rhetoric here about supporting heroes…I would rather they used that money to pay their staff.
You are right, produa myvi became king without joining rally.