Thursday, July 16, 2009

Proton Neo IRC's Rally Russia

Proton Neo Finishes IRC's Rally Russia in fourth


Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) and its Proton-sourced Satria Neo Super 2000 managed to score some valuable points at the team’s second IRC outing in Russia. Driver Guy Wilks and co-driver Phil Pugh managed to score 5 points, after some ups and downs through out the entire round.

Wilks recovered after dropping from third to seventh position on Day 2, and finished the Rally Russia in fourth overall, even after picking up a puncture on SS13. The duo also managed to set the third fastest time on SS9. In the driver’s championship, the Brit is 15th overall (among 34 drivers), while Proton is now in fifth place, behind Abarth which has thus far scored 24 points, and ahead of Honda, which has only scored one single point.

Previously, at MEM-Proton’s first race in Belgium, the team failed to finish the entire rally, following an off-road excursion. The team, along with the entire circus now heads to Rali Vinho Madeira in Portugal. The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 is built by MEM and is powered by a 2.0 liter, Renault-sourced re-tuned motivator that is good for 278HP at 7,600 revs and 271Nm of torque at 7,000 revs (based on the engine used in the Proton Waja 1.8X).

The engine is mated to a specced down version of the X-trac gearbox found in the Citroen WRC racer. It also has a GEMS computer system that tracks and logs over 50 variables. To learn more about the MEM-built Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 racer and to view an array of detailed images, please click here. Meanwhile, continue reading to view more images of the super quick Neo at the Rally Russia.