No Rallye Monte-Carlo joy for PROTON aces

PROTON Motorsports’ bid to begin its 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season with a strong finish on Rallye Monte-Carlo has faltered after team drivers P-G Andersson and Chris Atkinson both retired from the centenary edition of the event this morning.

Atkinson, from Australia, stopped after 700 metres of the opening stage with a suspected electrical problem while Andersson went out after seven kilometres of stage two when he took a wheel off his Satria Neo Super 2000 in a crash.

Swede Andersson, who is being co-driven by countryman Emil Axelsson for the first time, was just outside of the top 10 when he went out.

PROTON Motorsports, which is run by the British MEM operation, had prepared for Rallye Monte-Carlo with a series of tests.