page_title: PROTON Holdings
section_title: Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
hierarchical_section_title: PROTON Holdings / Motorsport / 2010s / Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
caption_attribution_description: English: Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car drived by Alister McRae in Rally Hokkaido 2010 日本語: プロトン・サトリアネオ Super 2000、ドライバーはアリスター・マクレー、ラリー北海道2010にて
context_page_description: PROTON Holdings Berhad is a Malaysian automotive company and automobile corporation active in automobile design, manufacturing, distribution and sales. Proton was established in 1983 as Malaysia's sole national badged car company until the advent of Perodua in 1993. The company is headquartered in Shah Alam, Selangor, and operates additional facilities at Proton City, Perak. 'Proton' is a Bahasa Malaysia acronym for Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional.
  Proton was originally a manufacturer of rebadged Mitsubishi Motors products in the 1980s and 1990s. Proton produced its first indigenously designed, non-badge engineered car in the year 2000, and elevated Malaysia as the 11th country in the world with the capability to design cars from the ground up. Since the 2000s, Proton has produced a mix of locally engineered and badge engineered vehicles. Proton cars are currently sold in at least 15 countries, the majority of which are in Asia.
  Proton was originally owned in majority by HICOM, with minority stakes being held by Mitsubishi Group members. By 2005, Mitsubishi had divested their stake in Proton to Khazanah Nasional, and in 2012, Proton was fully acquired by DRB-HICOM.
context_section_description: Proton re-entered the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) in 2010, an international rally championship organised by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Proton had previously participated in the APRC, but withdrew in 2005 due to financial problems. The company competes under the official team name of Proton Motorsports with former WRC drivers Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae from Australia and Scotland respectively in a pair of Proton Satria Neo S2000 rally cars. The new Satria Neo S2000 replaced the Proton PERT as Proton's premier rally car, and was prepared by British-based Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) in accordance to FIA Super 2000 specifications. The cars cost over RM1 million each and are equipped with 280 bhp (271Nm) 2.0 litre engines paired to 4WD drivetrains. Despite facing technical problems and stiff competition from the superior Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Subaru Impreza rally cars, Proton drivers McRae and Atkinson placed 3rd and 5th respectively in the 2010 APRC season.
  The following year, Malaysian rally veteran Karamjit Singh rejoined the APRC after a 6-year absence under the Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team in a Group N 2WD CUSCO Japan-tuned 1.6L CamPro 145 hp (170Nm) version of the Satria Neo. Japanese rally driver Akira Bamba also contested in the 2011 APRC season in another Satria Neo CUSCO. The 2011 season concluded with a one-two Proton Motorsports victory with drivers McRae and Atkinson in their Satria Neo S2000s. Karamjit placed 1st in the 2WD category and 7th overall in the championship, ahead of Bamba who placed 9th overall.
  In the 2012 APRC season, Chris Atkinson left Proton Motorsports after two years of racing history with the team. Atkinson joined Indian Team MRF instead where he piloted a Škoda Fabia S2000 alongside Indian rally veteran Gaurav Gill. The vacant slot in Proton Motorsports was filled by Swedish racer Per-Gunnar Andersson who also raced for Proton in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Additionally, Proton R3 Cusco added a third driver, Malaysian Kenneth Koh, whereas Dreams India driver Sanjay Takle participated in another 2WD Satria Neo. The 2012 season ended with a Team MRF victory, with Atkinson and Gaurav placing first and fourth respectively in their S2000 Škodas. Proton Motorsports driver McRae clinched second, but Andersson placed a lowly seventh overall with the S2000 Satria Neos. Proton R3 Cusco racers Karamjit, Bamba and Kenneth placed fifth, sixth and eight respectively and Dreams India's Sanjay placed ninth overall.
caption: Alister McRae in his Proton Satria Neo S2000 at Rally Hokkaido during the 2010 APRC season.
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