News

Proton wins home event

Proton have won their home event with Australian Chris Atkinson taking victory in the APRC Malaysian Rally. Driving a factory backed Proton Satria Neo S2000 Atkinson had an untroubled run to victory winning the event outright against one of the strongest fields seen for many years.

Making the most of an entirely new suspension set-up and significant engine enhancements, Atkinson steered the yellow Proton Satria Neo S2000 to victory to finish 1 minute 36.6 seconds ahead of Gill in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

It was Atkinson’s first victory with Proton since joining the team last year. For co-driver Stephane Prevot, the result was also significant – the Belgian marked his 300th rally with the victory.

It could well have been a 1-2 for Proton but team-mate  Alister McRae had some overheating issues on the first day and backed off to save the car and ensure he finished - on the podium in third place.

Splitting the two Protons was Indian driver Gaurav Gill in an MRF Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10. Gill drove a sensible event and at the same time won the Asia Cup section.

New Zealander Brian Green was fourth overall, followed by Japanese driver Aki Hatano, both driving Subarus. Chinese driver Fan Fan got his Mitsubishi home in 6th, followed by local man Mohammed Rafiq.

The APRC's new Junior  class got off to a great start with Japanese drivers Akira Bamba and Kosuke Takashino 8th and 9th in their 2WD drive Cusco-Proton Satria's. 

Tomohide Hasegawa bought his battered Mitsubishi home in 10th and class winner Gunaseelan Rajoo 11th, also in a Proton.


Malaysian Rally is always difficult, but with overnight rain on Friday the conditions were treacherous - there were seven retirements in the first loop of stages on Saturday morning.

After an earlier off-road excursion Katsu Taguchi the current APRC champion had regained the road just after Rifat Sungkar, The Indonesian kindly pulled over to let Taguchi past but then the  MRF driver was confronted by a huge rock in the middle of the road, that tore off the front wheel.

The Cusco-Pertamina team cars were equal fastest on the first stage, but that would be the highlight of their rally. 2010 Asia Cup winner Yuya Sumiyama slid off the road and got stuck. Sungkar finished the morning loop in a very good third place, but on the way back to service in Johor the Indonesian ran out of petrol and was forced to with-draw. Sungkar restarted on the second day and showed he has huge potential in this new car - taking maximum bonus points for fastest driver on Day 2.

Another former APRC champion Cody Crocker, didn't even get past the first stage sliding off the road and into retirement 2 kilometres after the start.

Mark Higgins in the China based Soueast Motor Kumho team, was out in SS3 after a communication problem in the car resulted in a roll-over. Hs team-mate Hao Yuan suffered a similar fate. Both drivers restarted on Day 2 and used the opportunity to learn the car and prepare for the rest of the championship.

The next event in the APRC is the International Rally of Queensland ( http://www.rallyqueensland.com.au ) 13-15 May.