Lady luck was definitely not smiling upon Alister McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes but the duo managed to overcome a series of misfortunes on the final day of the International Rally of Queensland to finish fourth for Proton in the second round of the Asia pacific Rally Championship.
The third and final day of the rally started with the pair holding an eight second advantage over Gaurav Gill in the Mitsubishi Evo X but the engine in their Satria Neo S2000 developed some misfiring issues following a water crossing and they were forced to relinquish the rally.
After fixing the misfiring issues, they were struck by another blow in the form of a broken drive shaft with over 50km of the last three special stages left. Nonetheless, they held on for fourth spot ahead of an aggressive Rifat Sungkar in his Evo X.
“With no service interval, we were forced to slow down and nurse the car to the finish. It was a tough event, one that presented us with a lot of challenges. McRae and I are obviously disappointed in not being able to secure a podium finish but considering the circumstances, finishing fourth at least sees us heading to the next APRC round with valuable championship points,” said Hayes.
It was an equally disappointing day for McRae’s teammate, Chris Atkinson, as well. Having rejoined the rally on the final day after retiring the previous day due to an electrical failure, a relapse of the same problem duly brought his final day to an early end too.
In the end, Brit Mark Higgins took the overall win for the round ahead of Gill and Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi.
“It was a hard fought rally. While we were hoping for a better result after a strong start, fourth place amidst an unfortunate last day will nevertheless go a long way in extending our position in the overall manufacturer’s championship, with full points on Leg 1 and some good points on Leg 2 with a fourth overall and first in Class 2” said Datuk Abdul Razak Dawood, the head of Proton Motorsports.
“Credit goes to Alister and Bill who were able to use all their experience to steer the car to the finish. The Satria Neo S2000 has clearly demonstrated that it has good pace and performance, and this is something we will work to further build on in our fight for the championship,” he added.
It wasn’t all despair though for Proton as Karamjit Singh and Proton Cusco Rally Team driver Akira Bamba brought home their 1600cc Group N Satria Neos in ninth and eleventh spot overall but more importantly, first and second in their class.
