Rallye de Nouvelle-Caledonie - 17-19 Jun 11

DOMINANT PROTON ONE-TWO IN FIA ASIA-PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIP AFTER ROUND 3

Posted: June 27, 2011 9:37 AM

PROTON Motorsports dominated Rallye Nouvelle Caledonie, which finished in Noumea yesterday (Sunday). The Satria Neo S2000 proved unbeatable for the second FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round this year. Chris Atkinson (Australia) and Alister McRae (Britain) finished first and third in the Pacific island event and are now one-two in the APRC standings – with PROTON leading the manufacturers’ title race.

After making the perfect start to the APRC season with a winning double podium on the Malaysian Rally, PROTON was aiming for a repeat of that performance on the 19-stage event. And Atkinson and McRae duly delivered.

Atkinson’s second victory of the year – and PROTON’s third win from the last four APRC rounds (including McRae’s APRC win on the China Longyou Rally, the final round of the 2010 series) highlighted the performance and consistency of the Satrias.

New Caledonia was always going to be one of the biggest challenges for the PROTON Motorsports team this season, with Atkinson only having competed there once before and McRae never having travelled to the island rally. The notoriously fickle weather delivered plenty of rain just before the start of the event, leaving the switchback dirt roads extremely muddy and slippery for the region’s finest and fastest rally drivers. And PROTON, Atkinson and McRae proved to be finer and faster than the rest.

Atkinson built a comfortable lead at the front of the field and rarely looked troubled as he progressed to his second success in this year’s series. His win on the beautiful Pacific island is enough to return him to the lead of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship drivers’ table. The Queenslander is 10 points ahead of McRae, who completes a PROTON’s perfect one-two in the mid-season table.

With three rounds down and three to run, PROTON Motorsports is enjoying huge success in this year’s series – the most important and highest profile in the Asia-Pacific region. Beyond the drivers’ race, PROTON is also leading the FIA Asia-Pacific Championship for Manufacturers and the APRC Teams’ Trophy.

The next event for the PROTON Motorsports team is the Geko Ypres Rally round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which starts in Ypres, Belgium on Friday (June 24). The team’s next FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round will be the International Rally of Whangarei (July 15-17) in New Zealand.

Quotes:
Chris Atkinson said:
“Finding a good rhythm and a good pace on these roads was really important on this rally – and we were able to do that pretty quickly. The roads were really wet to start with, but they did dry out. In some ways that made it harder because when you went under the trees, it was damp again and you had to be really careful in these sections: there was no grip at all. This rally was definitely one of the toughest I’ve ever done, harder than most of the rounds of the World Rally Championships I’ve competed on; as the conditions were drying, it felt like no two corners had the same sort of grip level. Scoring our second win from three rounds shows how quick the car is and how much performance we have there. It also makes it more frustrating that we had the problem on the second round in Queensland, we were leading when we went out of that event – we could have been here sitting on three wins! Apart from a broken driveshaft on the first day, which was a strange problem – one we've never had before, everything went to plan on this event. This was a great result – and another one to make PROTON proud.”

Alister McRae said:
“Not competing here before made this a tricky rally for me. I enjoy the challenge of these new events, but the rain that had fallen before the start of the rally made these roads incredibly difficult. The surface of the road is quite clay-like, so, as you would expect, as soon as it got wet, there wasn’t too much grip around. We had some punctures during the event which cost us a time, but to come away from the event with third place was good news, it keeps me right in the race for the title. From here, we’re going to New Zealand which is an event everybody absolutely loves and I’m hoping I can put one over on my team-mate Chris [Atkinson] on that event.”

PROTON Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Seri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said:
“We are elated with this victory. Two victories in three rounds of the APRC certainly proves the competitiveness of the Satria Neo S2000. We’ve endured our fair share of misfortunes and mechanical issues but the car has nevertheless proven time and time again that it is able to take on the more powerful turbocharged cars and more importantly win rallies.”

Chris Mellors (team principal) said:
“This is a great result for the team. It means we’re leading the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships which is fantastic news. It’s fair to say we were ready for a shot in the arm like this one. The cars ran really well and the Satria has, once again, shown the pace it can run at. This wasn’t an easy rally for the team, Chris had been here before, but some time ago, but Alister hadn’t seen these roads before and they were pretty tricky, with plenty of places to catch the guys out. Both Chris and Alister have done a great job for the team and that’s reflected in the way we lead the championships. Taking first and third from two of the first three rounds is a very solid start to the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship – and it's nice to be leading three FIA championships!”

Results

Posted: June 27, 2011 9:29 AM

1 Chris Atkinson Stephane Prevot (Proton Neo S2000) 03:01:18   
2 Rifat Sungkar Scott Beckwith (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 03:02:56   
3 Alister McRae Bill Hayes (Proton NEO S2000) 03:08:53   
4 Brian Green Fleur Pedersen (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) 03:15:18   
5 Fan Fan Junwei Fang (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 03:26:21

Proton Preview

Posted: June 12, 2011 4:55 PM

PROTON Motorsports drivers Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae start next week’s Rally de Nouvelle Caledonie with their sights set on a second victory from three Asia-Pacific Rally Championship rounds in the Satria Neo S2000.

The third round of the APRC starts from the capital of New Caledonian, Noumea on Friday (June 17) afternoon. Scotsman McRae spearheads PROTON’s challenge, arriving on the south-west Pacific island second in the title race, with Atkinson (Australia) two places behind him.

PROTON dominated the opening APRC round of the series, at home in Malaysia, and looked like repeating that performance on the second event in Queensland, Australia, before dropping back from the front of the field. PROTON’s Satria Neo S2000 does, however, remain the class of this year’s APRC field with more fastest times than any other manufacturer.

The fast and flowing stages on next week’s rally will suit the PROTON’s ever-improving power and driveability, empowering McRae and Atkinson to carry the fight to their rivals on what has to be one of the most picturesque rallies in the world.

Sitting 750 miles east of Australia and 900 miles north-west of New Zealand, the action takes place on the Grande Terre, the largest island in the archipelago. The mountainous nature of this 6,300-square metre island mean rain is always a possibility. While the event takes place in the southern hemisphere’s winter, temperatures are still expected around 20 degrees.

The stages offer a stunning mix of inland roads through the forests and rich vegetation and the coastline roads, where one mistake could provide man and machine with a closer-than-expected glimpse of the South Pacific.

McRae and Atkinson will test their PROTONs in New Caledonia on Tuesday, when they will focus on finding the perfect set-up for the 19-stage event.

Quotes:
Chris Atkinson said:
“We’ve led the first two – and won the first round – of the championship, so we know we’ve got the pace to be at the front of the field. I was really impressed with what the team had done with the car, just between Malaysia and Queensland, the engine was great, but then we had a few issues. The team have worked really hard to get those things sorted and you could see from the pace on the last intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) round how close the car is to the other factory S2000s; we’re very close with this car now. I’ve done the rally in New Caledonia once before and I remember fast and narrow roads which will suit our car. I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car and showing what PROTON can do again.”

Alister McRae said:
“There’s always something really interesting about going to a new place and a new rally and that’s the case for me in New Caledonia. I’ve heard plenty about it, but I’m really looking forward to seeing the roads. I’ve heard it’s a mixture of Queensland and New Zealand, which should be good for us and the PROTON: both of those events suit the Super 2000 car. I’ve watched some in-car from previous years and it looks as though the surface is quite clay-like, which will get very slippery if it gets wet. We’re looking for a good result from this event; we’re looking for a win. The [Asia-Pacific Rally] Championship is still wide open and we really want a result to put the disappointment of Queensland behind us – and to get us to the top of the table. I think everybody can see the potential of the Satria Neo S2000 now, the pace is very impressive – and we’re out to demonstrate that pace in a new part of the world next week.”

Chris Mellors (team principal) said:
“We know we’ve got the speed to win this rally. We have addressed the issues we had in Australia and we’re happy, very happy with the way the car’s running ahead of New Caledonia. The team has competed on this event before and we have a very good idea of where we’re going with the car set-up. We’re quietly confident of a good result – a repeat of the first and third we took in Malaysia would be nice.”

Entry List

Posted: June 12, 2011 4:50 PM

Rallye de Nouvelle-Caledonie - 17-19 Jun 11 - ENTRY LIST (APRC)

RALLYES DE NOUVELLE CALEDONIE (New Caledonia)

Rally Guide / Event Website / Details

Posted: January 2, 1990 3:02 PM

RALLYES DE NOUVELLE CALEDONIE (New Caledonia)