Alister Mcrae To Make Proton Debut In Place Of Karamjit

September 28, 2009 19:16 PM

Alister Mcrae To Make Proton Debut In Place Of Karamjit

By: Ramjit

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By Neville D'Cruz

MELBOURNE, Sept 28 (Bernama) -- One of the best-known names in World rallying will join with Proton for an assault on the next round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), the Rally of Indonesia.

Australian-based Scotsman, Alister McRae will be the latest rally star to get behind the wheel of Proton's exciting new S2000 rally contender, the Proton Satria Neo.

Proton Australia told Bernama, McRae, now living in Perth, will drive the Mellors Elliott Motorsports prepared Satria Neo S2000 on the next round of Rally Indonesia, scheduled for October 3-4.

McRae will replace Malaysian rally star Karamjit Singh who gave Proton their APRC debut in Malaysia last month before crashing out in the early stages.

The former Hyundai works driver and brother of 1995 World Rally champion, the late Colin McRae, Alister will be partnered by Australian co-driver Bill Hayes.

The Rally of Indonesia is the sixth round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship but only the second rally for the Proton R3 Malaysia team.

The McRae surname has been synonymous with rallying for over three decades and Alister has over 20 years of experience including a British national championship to his name.

McRae's recent achievements include a class win in the Targa Tasmania in Australia last year.

"I have had the opportunity to test the Satria Neo S2000 in England recently and am very pleased with the performance of the car," said McRae.

"I will certainly be looking forward to competing in the Proton at the Rally of Indonesia against some of the best drivers in the region."

Proton meanwhile will be relying on the single entry of British front-runner Guy Wilks in the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship in San Remo in Italy, as the development of this all-new car, the Satria Neo S2000, continues apace.

With the team's experience of the car growing through every kilometre, expectations are high for more points to come their way after a sensational performance in the IRC round in Russia recently and after showing competitive stage times throughout the season.

The result is an astonishingly small and agile car, which boasts an attractive, and aerodynamic homologated body kit complimenting the eye-catching Satria design.

The Proton S2000 in full rally trim has the smallest frontal area and the lowest roof height of any S2000 car currently homologated even at rally ride height settings.

In a unique concept, both the driver and co-driver seat positions have been fixed at the rearmost possible mounting points to maximise the car's weight distribution with the pedal box and steering column being adjustable to suit different crew requirements.

-- BERNAMA

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