Rallying has produced a great result for Proton in the 2011 APRC.They beat the established team like Mitsubishi and Subaru in that competition.Proton also has became the first car manufacturer to win all all eight individual titles in the championship. In addition to the APRC driver’s and manufacturer’s title, Proton also won driver’s titles of the FIA Asia Cup and FIA Pacific Cup. The Group N 1,600cc Proton Satria Neo completed the trophy haul by bringing home the FIA APRC Rally Cup 2WD driver’s and manufacturer’s title, and FIA APRC Junior Cup driver’s title.
For Proton, they said that, motorsports has injects plenty of excitement into its brand or its particular model, and it provides a platform in which technology and technical know-how can be developed and applied to the future road-going models.Read the full news from motortrader below.
WINNING HELPS MAKE PROTON BETTER
Rallying produced a triumphant result for Proton when it emerged as a dominant force in 2011 to clinch the coveted Asia Pacific Rally Championship Manufacturer’s and Driver’s titles. Pitting the Satria Neo S2000 against veteran makes like Mitsubishi and Subaru, Proton won four of the six APRC rounds this year.
In doing so, it became the first car manufacturer to win all eight major individual titles in the championship: the overall FIA APRC manufacturer’s title; FIA APRC driver’s title; the FIA APRC Teams Trophy; the FIA Asia Cup driver’s title; and the FIA Pacific Cup driver’s title.
Proton’s Group N 1600 cc two-wheel drive Satria Neo also, helped to clinch the remaining three titles that included the manufacturer’s title in the FIA APRC Rally Cup for two-wheel drive category; the FIA APRC Rally Cup two-wheel drive driver’s title; and FIA APRC Junior Cup driver’s title.
This is Proton’s first APRC win after 7 years. It was a 3-time winner of the championship in 2001, 2002 and 2004 and returned for a full season in 2010, finishing second in the APRC Manufacturer’s championship.
“All in all, it has been a phenomenal year for us in competition,” said Proton Group Managing Director Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, who attributed the company’s success to its philosophy of being “Committed to be Better”.
“At Proton, we are committed to be better and this extends to both competition and in the manufacturing of production vehicles for the global market. We are also committed to winning, and excelling in competition significantly supports our aspiration of becoming a truly competitive global car manufacturer,” he said.
Events like the APRC have provided Proton with enormous exposure – seen by television viewers in over 129 countries with an estimated audience of over 390 million viewers worldwide.
“For car manufacturers, motorsports injects plenty of excitement into a brand or a particular model, and it provides a platform in which technology and technical know-how can be developed and applied to future road-going models,” Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin said. A clear example of this, he added, was in the strong foundation in ride and handling characteristics shared by both the winning Group N Satria Neo and what customers can experience in a production model Satria Neo, and other current Proton models.
The Group N Satria Neo rallycar was jointly developed with renowned Japanese tuner CUSCO which sells it to competitors in Japan taking part in both the APRC and Japanese Junior Rally Championship. An even more meaningful achievement is the fact that the rallycar has also become the very first Proton and Malaysian-manufactured car to be made into a rallycar in Japan.
“Beyond its promotional benefits, it is Proton’s goal to have our achievements and the technology derived in competition transcend into our future generation of vehicles,” Dato’ Sri Haji Syed Zainal Abidin said. “Motorsports is a cost-effective and wide-reaching platform which we believe offers tremendous value and return of investment. Proton’s involvement is aimed at not only reaffirming our presence in the region in a bigger way, but designed to serve as a prelude to our future products.”
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