MOTORSPORT: One weekend, three podiums for Proton - but does it mean anything to sales?

 Proton Motorsport had a fantastic weekend, getting on three different podiums on a single weekend,
clinching second in the Super 2000 WRC round of Great Britain, taking all three top spots in the 2WD category of the APRC, Japan round and winning the Malaysian Super Series championship with one round to go.

While Proton won all three events they took part in, critics at home are saying that this may not be any great shakes if the victories do not result in extra sales. After all you race and win on Sunday for the purpose of selling cars on Monday.

Leading automotive blogger Paul Tan tweeted this and it was later picked up by Hezeri Samsuri, the editor of Top Gear Malaysia and a discussion ensued on Facebook.

Proton's motorsports victories should be put to better use by the company's marketing team to give a much needed halo to their product line-up otherwise all that money and effort would simply go to waste.

Motorsport is not cheap but it can be justified if it leads to better brand positioning and improved sales.

For example Toyota and Hyundai-Kia are hardly known for their motorsport victories but they are selling more cars than anybody and Hyundai Kia continues to grow at a fast pace.

Citroen on the other hand is dominating WRC and parent company PSA is doing so badly that they plan to or will lay off more than 16,000 employees and the company's stock has been taken out of the CAC40 index calculation because it was dragging down the French market.

DRB-Hicom, which paid RM3 billion for Proton is under a lot of pressure both from the board as well as the public.

The board wants to see Proton turned around and start pumping profit into the group's coffers while the public wants to see a more dynamic company producing better and more exciting products.

The reality is that the doctor thinks the patient needs to rest and recuperate and reorganise itself and during this period we will probably see minimal activity, other than those actions which would result in immediate improvement in the companys' health will be put on hold.

Insiders say this process can take between one and half year to two years.

Anyway, read the Press Release to enjoy the full result of Proton's motorsport victories this weekend.






POST-EVENT RELEASE: PROTON CELEBRATES A SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND OF MOTORSPORTS

September 17, 2012
PROTON R3 Motorsports celebrated podium finishes across three countries in an epic motorsports weekend which saw the Proton Satria Neo participate in the World Rally Championship (SWRC) in Great Britain, the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in Hokkaido, Japan, and Malaysian Super Series (MSS) at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.



Rally Great Britain (SWRC)

Young Welshman, Tom Cave clinched the second-place spot for Proton R3 Motorsports Rally Team in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship round of Great Britain, driving a Proton Satria Neo S2000 rally car. He drove a well-measured drive in what is only his second outing this year for the PROTON team. It was a far tougher weekend for Super World Rally Championship leader PG Andersson after retiring from the first leg of the rally. Despite this, he managed to put in some impressive stage times after restarting and taking two-stage wins to finish sixth. This result meant PG Andersson extended his lead in the SWRC Championship by eight points with Hayden Paddon from New Zealand sharing joint second-place with Irishman, Craig Breen. The rally was won by Ford Fiesta S2000 driver, Craig Breen with Yazeed Al-Rajhi finishing third in another Ford.



Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) Rally Hokkaido

It was a great outing for the Proton R3 CUSCO Rally Team in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) round of Rally Hokkaido 2012 as the team finished first, second and third in the 2WD category.  Malaysian Rally legend and three-time previous overall winner of the APRC, Karamjit Singh continued his dominance in the 2WD category by winning it outright despite a puncture which lost him almost one and a half minutes. Pushing hard in his 2WD Proton Satria Neo Group N rally car, Karamjit clawed his way back into the lead to take victory and maximum points to extend his 2WD Championship lead.

Karamjit’s Japanese teammate Akira Bamba had much to celebrate also, clinching his second consecutive APRC Junior Championship title after finishing first in the APRC Junior Category and second in 2WD after his closest rival Michael Young from New Zealand crashed out in Leg 1.  Malaysian Junior driver Kenneth Koh rounded of the perfect weekend for the team by finishing second in the Junior category and 3rd 2WD competitor.  Overall, it turned out to be a fantastic weekend for PROTON despite the retirement of both Proton Satria Neo S2000 cars driven by Alister McRae and Juha Salo.

Malaysia Super Series (MSS)

Closer to home, the Proton R3 Race Team pair of Syafiq Ali and James Veerapen clinched the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) at the Sepang International Circuit with one round to go in their Proton R3 Satria race cars.  The team started out strong and was aiming for its fourth successive Malaysian Touring Car Class 2 category win.  By lap 12 of the one-hour race and leading the MTC 2 class, James Veerapen was knocked off the track into the gravel by another competitor at turn 12 but got underway again thanks to the quick action of the track marshals. Despite having lost plenty of time in that incident, the team made a strong comeback to finish in fourth and clinching the Championship with an unassailable 70 point lead.