Proton plans more IRC events in the future

The factory Proton team will still chase Intercontinental Rally Challenge glory this season despite skipping Sata Rallye Açores, round seven of the 12-event series, which gets underway this evening.

It had entered Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae in a brace of Proton Satria Neo Super 2000s on the gravel event with Tom Cave also due to take part in a semi-works example.

However, the entries of all three drivers were withdrawn to enable the team’s engineers to solve the engine problem, which forced the three Satria Neos to retire on the same stage of last month’s Geko Ypres Rally.

Works drivers Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae and semi-works Proton pilot Tom Cave all failed to go any further than the fourth stage of the asphalt event when a valve spring failed on the number two inlet valve of all three engines.

Chris Mellors, the boss of the Proton R3 Rally Team, said: “We’re missing the Azores to do some engine testing to get to the bottom of the issues we had in Ypres. Instead of going to the Azores we’re going to do some durability testing and work on the dyno back in Britain.”