Proton Wins First & Third In Malaysian Rally—The 2011 APRC Opening Round

Proton has claimed the first and third overall places in the Malaysian Rally, the three-day opening round of the 2011 Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). First place went to Chris Atkinson, whose yellow Proton Satria Neo S2000 has received a new suspension setup and major engine updates for the year. Team MRF's Gaurav Gill took second with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, and Proton's Alister McRae rounded up the podium in third.

“This is a fantastic result for Proton”, Atkinson said of his first ever victory with Proton since joining the team in 2010. “The Satria Neo S2000 performed extremely well throughout the rally and it is especially satisfying to have been able to demonstrate the car's true potential, competitiveness and its level of pace and performance in front of the home crowd”.

Proton Managing Director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir was pleased at the results achieved over the weekend. “In a rally that was incredibly difficult, celebrating a victory and having two cars on the podium is absolutely rewarding for Proton and the entire team”, Syed Zainal Abidin said. “The results are also a manifestation to all the testing, development, hard work and heart that have gone into building on the Proton Satria Neo S2000's competitiveness”.

AboutSeow Yaohan

Seow Yao Han strives to bring you the latest and the most comprehensive information on cars available in Malaysia. But it's never easy for him to talk and write cars in this part of the world because what you lust after is often not what you drive home. When the euphoria of test-driving that branded, super-expensive sports car dies down, he just goes home in his less-than-glamorous ride.