Riding high on their victory in the third round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship last weekend at New Caledonia, Proton will be gunning for another successful round in the upcoming fifth round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC) in Belgium.
Spearheading the team’s efforts at Geko Ypres Rally will be two-time European Rally Champion as well as former winner of the Geko Ypres Rally, Italian Giandomenico Basso, and Swedish driver P-G Andersson.
“I’m looking forward to this event, I have won here before and it’s always a big challenge with a lot of really fast local drivers. The last rally we did with the car showed that we have made tremendous progress with the Satria Neo S2000. This is the good thing as the car is getting better and better, we are really improving. I want to come out and be fast in Ypres,” said Basso.
A total of 18 special stages covering 287km will make up the rally through the Belgium country side. Unpredictable weather is a showcase at this round and will no doubt keep the teams on their toes. Five of the special stages will be run in fading light or complete darkness. The entry list sees 31 S2000 rally cars starting out of 124 entries.
Although Basso has won here before, this will be the first time at the Geko Ypres Rally for his teammate Andersson. Nonetheless, Andersson is looking forward to the challenge, buoyed by the Satria Neo S2000’s victory at New Caledonia recently.
“I have never done this rally before, but I have seen the stages and the number of people out there spectating is just incredible. I think we’re in for a rally with a lot of atmosphere. Unfortunately, I think it can be quite tough for drivers to go there without so much experience and try to win the rally; some of the roads are quite specialized. We showed at the last IRC event in the Ukraine that the team is making good progress with the car and we are definitely getting quicker. Proton of course has proven this with a victory and third place win at last week. I’m optimistic we will continue to do well in Belgium,” said Andersson.
Proton too are looking to carry forward their success at the APRC to the IRC this weekend.
“We have put in a lot of effort to develop the Satria Neo S2000 since the last round in the Ukraine. These improvements have so far worked in favour of better performance and reliability which we hope will see both Basso and Andersson being competitive in Belgium. We’ve still limited experience competing on asphalt but with Basso’s experience and the determination of the entire team, we look forward to Belgium becoming a good hunting ground for Proton,” said Head of Proton Motorsports, Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood.
