PROTON’s Alister McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes fended off more misfortunes on the third and final day of the International Rally of Queensland to finish in fourth place, in what is considered the strongest field in the Asia Pacific rally championship in recent years. The duo began the day with an 8-second advantage over Australian Gaurav Gill, but was forced to relinquish the rally when the S2000 started misfiring after a water crossing in one of the day’s seven special stages.

Beginning the day with an eight second advantage over Mitsubishi’s Gaurav Gill, the pair was forced to relinquish the rally when the Proton Satria Neo S2000’s engine began misfiring after a water crossing in one of the day’s seven special stages. To make matters worse, they were dealt another blow when they suffered a broken drive shaft and had to slow down for 50km over the last three special stages of the rally. Despite the setbacks, they managed to hang on to 4th place.

“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.

Another consolation for PROTON – its 1600cc group N Satria Neos finished 9th and 11^th overall in the rally, and 1^st and 2^nd in class at the hands of Karamjit Singh and Proton Cusco Rally Team mate Akira Bamba.

Congrats, Team Proton R3! Official Press Release after the jump.

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