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Back to June 2011 Motorsports News Archive
| 22-06-2011 at 13:06: Atko Takes the Win | |
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After making the perfect start to the APRC season with a winning double podium on the Malaysian Rally, Proton was aiming for a repeat of that performance on the 19-stage event, with Atkinson and McRae duly delivering. Atkinson’s second victory of the year, and Proton’s third win from the last four APRC rounds (including McRae’s APRC win on the China Longyou Rally, the final round of the 2010 series) highlighted the performance and consistency of the Satrias. “Finding a good rhythm and a good pace on these roads was really important on this rally – and we were able to do that pretty quickly,” said Atkinson. “The roads were really wet to start with, but they did dry out. In some ways that made it harder because when you went under the trees, it was damp again and you had to be really careful in these sections: there was no grip at all. This rally was definitely one of the toughest I’ve ever done, harder than most of the rounds of the World Rally Championships I’ve competed on; as the conditions were drying, it felt like no two corners had the same sort of grip level. “Scoring our second win from three rounds shows how quick the car is and how much performance we have there. It also makes it more frustrating that we had the problem on the second round in Queensland, we were leading when we went out of that event – we could have been here sitting on three wins! Apart from a broken driveshaft on the first day, which was a strange problem – one we’ve never had before, everything went to plan on this event. This was a great result – and another one to make Proton proud.” New Caledonia was always going to be one of the biggest challenges for the Proton Motorsports team this season, with Atkinson only having competed there once before and McRae never having travelled to the island rally. The notoriously fickle weather delivered plenty of rain just before the start of the event, leaving the switchback dirt roads extremely muddy and slippery for the regions finest and fastest rally drivers. Atkinson built a comfortable lead at the front of the field and rarely looked troubled as he progressed to his second success in this year’s series. His win on the beautiful Pacific island is enough to return him to the lead of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship drivers’ table. The Queenslander is 10 points ahead of McRae, who completes a Proton’s perfect one-two in the mid-season table. With three rounds down and three to run, Proton Motorsports is enjoying huge success in this year’s series – the most important and highest profile in the Asia-Pacific region. Beyond the drivers’ race, Proton is also leading the FIA Asia-Pacific Championship for Manufacturers and the APRC Teams’ Trophy. The next event for the Proton Motorsports team is the Geko Ypres Rally round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which starts in Ypres, Belgium on Friday (June 24). The team’s next FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round will be the International Rally of Whangarei (July 15-17) in New Zealand. |
Proton Motorsports dominated Rallye Nouvelle Caledonie, which finished in Noumea on Sunday local time. The Satria Neo S2000 proved unbeatable for the second FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship round this year. Australian Chris Atkinson and team-mate Alister McRae (Britain) finished first and third in the Pacific island event and are now one-two in the APRC standings – with Proton leading the manufacturers’ title race.^ Back to top ^
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