Proton Satria Neo, McRae get first podium finish

Alister McRae came third in the Rally of Scotland driving a Proton Satria. This is a first ever podium finish for Proton in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Now living in Perth Western Australia McRae recently returned to his native Perth shire in Scotland to race the Proton Satria Neo to its best ever result.

Only seven days earlier McRae almost won a place on the podium in the Rally of China in a similar Satria Neo S2000.

McRae has been impressed with the  Mellors Elliott Motorsport Proton Satria Neo S2000 and would like to compete in more Rallies with the car in 2010.

The Satria Neo S2000 made its first appearance on the IRC in June this year at the Belgium Ypres Rally and has been quick to show off its potential.

Chris Mellors is the team principal and he confirmed that a full IRC campaign as well as the Asia Pacific series is being prepared for 2010.

“We’re looking at a four-car program for 2010 – two in the IRC and two in the FIA Asia-Pacific Championship,” he said.

“Alister has driven for us in the Asia-Pacific series this year and until this weekend that was what we were planning for 2010 as well, but I know he’s enjoying this weekend a great deal so it could be interesting sorting that out.”

McRae was pleased to record Proton’s first podium finish in the IRC.

“The Proton chassis is one of the best I have ever driven”.

“Yes we’re doing the full IRC next year. We are looking forward to coming back and fighting these guys again,” Alister said.

“Kris Meeke (rally winner) has christened me ‘old safe hands’ but I can assure you these old hands were working far quicker than the brain!” McRae added.

McRae’s father was very proud, he himself being a five times British rally champion, Jimmy McRae, has been working with organisers of the inaugural Rally of Scotland and was extremely proud of his son’s return from Australia and joked : “He’s still a McRae!”

The Proton Super 2000 has a two litre engine that is based on the 1.8 litre engine from the Waja model and produces 210kW at 7600rpm, its usable power band is from 5,500 to 8,500rpm and uses a six speed sequential Xtrac 4WD transmission.

The car has been fitted with an innovative quick-change fuel control cassette that includes all fuel pumps, filters and valves. This is attached to the safety fuel cell and helps with quick maintenance.

Ventilated discs with alloy four pot calipers combined with the Neo’s low weight of 1150kg gives it excellent braking performance. The size of the ventilated discs can be changed, depending on the size of the wheels used. 15 inch wheels are used on gravel and 18 inch on tarmac, the calipers remain the same only the discs are changed.

The suspension setup can be fine tuned for any surface with a variety of anti-roll bars available for both front and back.

Resulting in a car with technical advances that are simple to use with the best combination of performance and reliability.

by Adam Marshall