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| Here’s the problem: Chris Atkinson (left) explaining what went wrong to Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek (centre) and Proton head of motorsports division Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood at the team’s garage in Valence on Wednesday. |
Both the Proton Satria Neo S2000 cars driven by Australian Chris Atkinson and Swede Per-Gunnar Andersson failed to complete the four stages on the first day of the season-opening Intercontinental Championship (IRC).
Atkinson’s race lasted all of 700m when his car stalled due to electronic malfunction in the 36.87km first stage from Le Moulinon-Antraigues.
“I had done probably five corners from the starting line when the car lost all power and slowed down to stop,” he said.
“It was a disappointing way to begin the season after all the testing and preparations we had done to get to the starting line.
“It is not a good feeling but as a driver, I have to accept whatever happened and the engineers need to work out what went wrong and avoid the problems for future races.”
The Malaysian outfit’s opening race jinx extended to the car driven by Andersson.
After posting a commendable 24:37.10 for 12th place among the 121 starters in the first stage, the two-time world junior champion was well poised for a top-10 finish in the 41.06km Burzet-St. Martial second stage when disaster struck.
The front left wheel ran over a rock on the hilly road, forcing the Swede to retire with a broken suspension.
The 100-year-old Monte Carlo Rally is the only competition on the IRC calendar which does not adopt the Super Rally racing rule, which means that any car that fails to finish a stage will be barred from the remainder of the 13-stage four-day rally.
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who was present at St Bonnet to witness the start of the 25.22km third stage, was left disappointed as the Malaysian outfit were already disqualified.
Both the Proton cars are therefore out of the competition even before the event heads to the famed Monte Carlo roads in Monaco on the third day of the rally today.
The head of Proton’s motorsports division, Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, said: “We had unbelievably bad luck to lose both cars on the opening day itself.
“Atkinson had a mechanical failure while Andersson’s vehicle was one of 15 cars that crashed out in the second stage.
“But we can take heart from Andersson’s early performance, which shows that we have quick cars and can be highly competitive for the remainder of the season. We need to work out what went wrong (with Atkinson’s car) and bounce back strongly.”
The Proton team will now head back to their headquarters in Britain to work on the cars for their next assignment – the opening leg of the Asian Pacific Championship (APRC) in Malaysia in early April, followed by the IRC second leg in Spain from April 14-16.
