Proton To Make IRC Debut: 18 June 2009 (Belgium)

Proton will celebrate its debut in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from June 18-20 istarting with Belgium (Belgium Ypes Rally). And that will not go unnoticed as the team have put their trust in Guy Wilks, the British driver who has shown his metal already in the WRC.

Wilks, who won the British Rally Championship in 2007 and 2008 with his Mitsubishi Lancer, will contest seven remaining rounds of the IRC with the factory-backed Proton team, which could expand to run as many as three cars before the end of this season.

PROTON's participation in the IRC challenge marks the Malaysian car manufacturer's return to the global rally scene since 2002, when Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh of the PROTON sponsored Petronas Eon Racing Team (PERT) bagged the Production World Rally Championship in an MEM developed car.

Catch the Proton team on the Belgium leg of the IRC, LIVE on Astro Eurosport (Channel 814) on these dates:

June 20, 2009

01:15-02:15 (Live) Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Belgium - Day 1

05:00-06:00 (Live) Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Belgium - Day 1

June 21, 2009

03:15-04:15 (Live) Intercontinental Rally Challenge in Belgium - Day 2

source:

ypesrally.com

cbt.com.my

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A1 Team Malaysia as the Most Improved Team for 2008/2009

The A1GP World Cup of Motorsports fans have voted the A1 Team Malaysia as the Most Improved Team for 2008/2009 season for their hard work in climbing from finishing 15th last season to sixth this season.

A1 Team Malaysia chief executive Jack Cunningham said the votes, cast through the recent A1GP.com award, enabled the team to beat their rivals from Lebanon and Australia.

"A1GP.com says the team looks to become championship contenders in season five. That has always been our goal. We'll need to continue with our hard work to stay in the top five, but I know that with the team we have and with their total commitment and determination, we'll be putting 100 per cent effort in for next season," he said in a statement here today.

A disappointing 15th place in the overall standings for the third season was eclipsed by the team taking a well-deserved 6th place by the end of season four (2008/2009).

A1 Team Malaysia worked hard between the third and fourth seasons, focusing on preparing the new generation A1GP `Powered by Ferrari' car, which made its debut in Zandvoort (Netherlands).

The team's efforts were quickly repaid with their driver, Fairuz Fauzy, winning the first race at the Dutch track in some of the most difficult racing conditions faced by A1GP drivers.

Fairuz then took the team's fifth race victory in the first race of the fourth season and backed this up with a points haul for the season from three podium finishes, eight points scoring finishes and a fastest lap.

The team maintained their high level of commitment and continued to develop the car with Fairuz and rookie driver, Aaron Lim. Consistency of results was a major factor in the team's success, with Fairuz scoring points at each event.

The new season of the A1GP series kicks off later this year and A1 Team Malaysia will return to represent the nation in this high-profile, international single-seater championship, which uniquely pits country against country for national honours.

source:

bernama

a1gp.com

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Super GT Round 4: Sepang Entry List

click to enlarge

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Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 to compete in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge

Proton has revealed that its MEM (Mellors Elliot Motorsport)-built Satria Neo racer, called the Satria Neo Super 2000, will be participating in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The news was released as the rally car was showcased at the Rally Show festival, which took place on the 6th and 7th of June.

Both MEM and Proton have also confirmed the driver line-up, that includes two-times British rally champion Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh as Wilks’ co-driver. The Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 is motivated by a 278HP 2.0 liter Renault powerplant, that is derived from the 1.8 liter Renault unit found in the production Proton Waja 1.8X.

Proton’s Managing Director, Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, mentioned that, “We are very excited to have Guy Wilks driving for Proton in the IRC. After his stunning performance in the recent Pirelli Rally, we are positive about our capabilities to put up a strong challenge. MEM has done a great job with the Proton Satria Neo S2000 and we will continue to improve as the year progresses.”

via icars.sg

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2012 Lotus Esprit Rendering

Motor Trend has released two renderings illustrating their idea of what the next Esprit may look like.

The Esprit nameplate will return to an all-new Lotus vehicle that will be based on a wider, longer version of the Evora's architecture. These renderings are our best look yet at what the Esprit will look like when it arrives in the flesh. Taking clear styling cues from both the Evora and the the Elise/Exige, the new Esprit brings plenty of exotic flair to the premium sports car segment. Its steeply raked windscreen and sharp, aggressive nose leave little doubt as to the Esprit's racy intentions.

via motortrend

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Sepang Inaugural 1000 km Results

Team Type R 21 had dominated the inaugural Sepang 1000km (S1K) from qualifying completing the race in 8 hours 49:30.103. Staring in pole potition, the team managed to stay in the top four teams throughout the 182 lap race.

Drivers Soh Kee Koon, Wong Yew Choong and Tek Kean Choong drove magnificently throughout the race in their Class 1 Honda Integra. The three drivers have eight years experience in racing in the Merdeka Millennium Endurance (MME) race and also been dominating other local races including the Malaysian Super Series (MSS).

“We had a good run, no problems at all, although the car was running a little hot in the afternoon, both it and the team performed remarkably throughout,” said Soh Kee Koon ecstatically after the race.

“All through the race car number 36 gave us a good fight but it pulled out of the race almost at the end of the race and that gave us a b it of a breather.” He added the team managed with just 8 pit stops for refuelling and went through five sets of the Archilles 123 tyres.

“The tyres were good because it provided grip straight from the point we rolled out of the pit after tyre changes as to compare to other tyres that needed to be warmed up first before providing enough grip.”

Following closely behind in 49.538 is team Lai Wee Sing, Mohamed Farriz Fauzy and Tseu Chan Kee in their Class 2 Honda Civic. The trio dropped to fifth place after 20 laps from the start but managed to slowly climb back to second place and maintain their spot till the end of the race.

In third place was Ser Meng Hui, Goi Chun Kiat and Mohd Nizam in a Class 1 Satria GTi. And as faith would have it, the Toyota AE11 of Kegani Racing fell out of the race with a broken belt tensioner after being in the lead for more than half of the race. The team was obviously distraught but have vowed to come back stronger next year. Next up - all the pictures and videos from the most anticipated Malaysian race this year - the Sepang 1000km Race.

via sepangcircuit.com

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In the "waiting" of Perodua's Upcoming MPV

Last year in 2008, an interview with Perodua managing director, Datuk Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar in The Edge Weekly has revealed some plans about Perodua that year. Besides their plan of rebranding Perodua which gives Perodua a new slightly modernized logo and launching the new Kembara which is currently known as Nautica, he also said that Perodua will launch a new three row 6-seater MPV in September 2009. Datuk Hafiz likened it to a Toyota Wish, but a smaller version.

In April this year, while Proton gears up for its Proton Exora MPV to be launched, according to Datuk Hafiz in BERNAMA, Perodua is also prepping up its MPV, set to be launched in Q3 this year. The new Perodua MPV is internally called the Perodua D46T codename and is expected to be priced between RM57,000 to RM66,000. Perodua's D46T to be said that it will be based on the Toyota Passo Sette (image below) which measures 4,180mm long, 1,695mm wide and 1,620mm tall, with 2,750mm wheelbase.The same Bernama report also confirmed it will come with a 1.5 liter engine, likely the 3SZ-VE in transverse-mounted front wheel drive configuration.

Also in April, Perodua displayed it's D46T at the Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia 2009 in Johor Bahru. It show us that the front seats are joined together as a single bench, and the arm rest in the middle looks like it can be flipped up to become a small backrest for the middle area and a dashboard that has its dash-mounted shifter very intact which means it’s not been moved to the floor.Besides that, the air conditioning controls have been changed from automatic climate control with an LCD panel to a manual 3-knob version that looks like it shares parts with the Toyota Vios, but this 3-knob control is also found in the low spec versions of the Passo Sette.

Apparently, Perodua also played a teaser video (see video below, which was originally uploaded by funtasticko5 at youtube.com ) for the MPV. The video revealed the MPV's exterior looks such as it's slightly different headlamps compared to the Passo Sette, the bumper which features a wide central air intake flanked by two large round foglamps and alloy wheels. Moreover, the video also revealed that the MPV will be launched in November 2009.

Here.. are the spy shots and a video of Perodua's future MPV:

source:

paultan.com

youtube.com/funtasticko5

youtube.com/xenonturbo

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Sepang 1000km Race: Day 1 - Qualifying Results

With an average time of 2:40.608, Class 1 Type R Racing team in the car number 21 will be starting the Sepang 1000km (S1K ) race at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) in pole position in.“We are confident that we can keep ahead the rest of the teams in the race from what we have experienced in the past,” said Tek.

“We sorted the car’s suspension to suit the tyres very early so we had more time to concentrate on winning the race instead of solving nagging problems.

He added they are not slowing down from their qualifying lap times and going to maintain an average time of 2:40 throughout the race.

Starting second on the grid is car number 16 of Tun Chun Racing team in Class 2. Driver Rhommell S. and Ian Lee is not strangers to racing with both having racing in the past.

But being the only two driver team means it’s going to be a bigger challenge physically for them to complete the 182 lap race.

“Yes we basically knew it’s not going to be easy but we thought since we love racing then let’s just go with it and have fun,” explained Lee.

On second row, third place is Class 2 team HPC Kegani 36. “We were hoping to start in second place so this means restrategising our starting procedure,” explained Kenny Lee.

“Earlier in the day we had some cooling issues which was never there before in previous races that we had entered with the car, it might be the hotter weather these days so we installed a bigger oil cooler and hopefully that will solve it.

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Singaporean team enters GT 300 Rd. 4 in Malaysia

It has been announced recently that the Singaporean team, "Thunder Asia Racing", will be participating in the forthcoming SUPER GT Round 4 held at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) of Malaysia on June 20 – 21.

It will be in the GT300 class where the team is making their spot-entry this time, driving Mosler MT900R, the American custom GT car known well in also the SUPER GT series. The machine will be powered by 7-liter GM LS7 engine, with tires by Yokohama, and Singaporean driver, Melvin Choo and his British counterpart, Martin Short on the steer. The British driver has participated in the Suzuka 1000km of 2001, (at the time not a part of SUPER GT/JGTC series) driving TVR Tuscan R, where he gained the experience competing with JGTC class machines.The team has been recommended by the SIC to the GTA about their special participation this time, and will not be granted any series points even if they finish in the points range.

via sepangcurcuit.com

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GM Exploring Plans For Plant In Malaysia

Despite General Motors (GM) entering bankruptcy protection in the United States, its Southeast Asia operation is going ahead with future expansion, including exploring plans to open a manufacturing plant in Malaysia.

He said that based on conditions in Malaysia, it would be possible to have a joint venture, adding that GM was prepared to talk to any potential partners, including national carmaker Proton.

In 2007, DRB-HICOM Bhd and General Motors Asia Pacific Holdings LLC (GMAPH) formed HICOM-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd to strengthen the Chevrolet brand in Malaysia. DRB-HICOM holds 49 percent in the new company and GMAPH the remainder.

At a press briefing here today, Carlisle said GM Asia Pacific, including GM Thailand and Asean, would be an important part of the "New GM" and would maintain normal business operations although the world's biggest automaker has filed for bankruptcy in the US.

Asked why GM would want to open a plant in Malaysia when it already has the state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand, Zara said this was necessary to meet different requirements in different parts of the region, especially concerning tax.

He said Thailand provided lower excise duty for pick-ups while Malaysia and Indonesia imposed lower excise duties for locally assembled cars and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) respectively.

"If we bring cars from Rayong to Malaysia, the import duty is low but the excise duty is high. Malaysia is also one of the biggest markets for cars in the region and we need to take into consideration this aspect," he added.

via BERNAMA

GM's Rayong manufacturing plant in Thailand

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Lotus Evora Revealed

Proton owned British sports car macnufacturer, Lotus has revealed it's Evora which enters the sports car market as the world's only mid-engine 2+2. The engine layout gives exceptional agility and the Lotus engineered suspension ensures incredible ride and handling. Powered by a Lotus-tuned 3.5-litre V6 engine producing 276 hp at 6400 rpm, and weighing just 1382kg, the Evora delivers an exhilarating experience true to the Lotus DNA characteristics.

One of the roles of the Evora is to attract new lifestyle customers, as well as performance aficionado's to the Lotus brand, the Evora offers a more refined ownership experience than Lotus' existing smaller four cylinder models

The Lotus Evora will be hand crafted and built on a dedicated new assembly line within their advanced manufacturing facility at Hethel, east of England; capacity limitations will restrict production to approximately 2000 cars a year, thus ensuring the Evora's rarity and exclusivity.

Engine

Mid-mounted, transverse, 3456 cc, DOHC VVTi

Lotus T6e engine control unit

Lotus designed AP Racing flywheel and clutch package (allows for more free revving and rapid throttle response)

Lotus designed exhaust system

Maximum power 276 hp at 6400 rpm

Maximum torque 342 Nm at 4700 rpm

Steering,Transmission and Brakes

Lotus tuned power steering

Six-speed manual

AP-Racing four-piston callipers tuned by Lotus

Lightweight Alloy wheels 18" front and 19" rear

Performance, Fuel Consumption and Emissions

Acceleration 0-100 km/h in 5.1 seconds

Maximum speed 250+ km/h

Fuel economy 12.7 km/l (combined cycle)

CO2 emissions 225 g/km (combined cycle)

Dimensions and Aero

Wheelbase 2575 mm

Track 1565 mm(front) and 1557 mm(rear)

Length 4342 mm

Height 1223 mm

Kerb weight 1350 kg (with options)

Drag (Cd) 0.33

via sgcarmart.com

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AAM Launches New Membership Programme For Young Drivers

The Automobile Association of Malaysia (AAM) has launched a new membership programme targetted at young drivers in order to educate them on the importance of road safety.

Named AAM A1 Team Malaysia Unicard, it will offer young drivers benefits while at the same time, capitalise on the popularity of the A1GP team to encourage the uptake of the new card, the company said in a statement today.

The programme will also allow AAM to fulfill three important objectives which are inculcating the importance of road safety to young drivers, providing them with around the clock breakdown assistance, and growing AAM's membership base for the future.

The new membership programme, aimed at the 18 to 23-year old category of drivers, comes free of charge and members will have to pay subsidised charges only when they require any service.

The programme is also an extension of the existing AAM A1 Team Malaysia card that was introduced in 2008 in collaboration with A1 Team Malaysia.

via zerotohundred.com & autoworld.com

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KL Tower Racing Team Ready To Take On The Challenges of The Sepang 1000KM Race

The KL Tower Racing Team is revved up and ready to roll out onto the tarmac for one of the toughest races this year, this weekends inaugural Sepang 1000KM Endurance Race. Piloting the race car will be Admi Shahrul, Khaidi Kamaruddin and Nick Thomas. All three are racing veterans who are no strangers to the world of competitive racing and are ready to blaze their Proton Satria R3 right up to the winner’s podium at the Sepang International Circuit.

The team will be racing their 1800cc Satria R3 in the Class 1 (1650cc to 1900cc) category. The car’s tuned and prepared by Velocity Sports Management and Motorsports Malaysia, with Motul as lubricant partner, and Advanti Racing as the official wheel partner.

“This is the fourth consecutive year that we are supporting the team, and throughout our productive partnership, there has always been progress and improvements. We believe in our talents. After previous efforts I have confidence that this will be another year of a strong showing. All three drivers are experienced and quick competitors with previous podium finishes. Together with improvements in this year’s car, the team is truly worthy of a podium finish,” said KL Tower General Manager (Sales & Operations), En Fadzil Haji Ibrahim.

via zerotohundred.com

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