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McRae and Atkinson confirmed with Proton for International Rally of Whangarei

Scotsman Alister McRae and Australian Chris Atkinson, two well-known names in rallying, will compete in this year’s International Rally of Whangarei against New Zealand’s top rally drivers.

The high-powered team-mates will be driving Proton Satria Neo S2000 cars for the Proton R3 Rally team in the 2010 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which features the Whangarei event as the third round from 2 to 4 July.

Willard Martin, who chairs the International Rally of Whangarei organising committee, says he’s delighted to see two drivers of Atkinson’s and McRae’s calibre confirmed for the Whangarei event.

“Alister McRae is obviously well-known in New Zealand from both his own rallying successes and those of his late brother Colin. We’ve seen Alister compete here on a number of events in New Zealand but it’s the first time he’ll be here with the Proton team in the Super 2000 rally car they launched last year. He scored a historic podium place for this Proton model in Rally Scotland in November last year after making his debut in the Malaysia-built car during Rally Indonesia last October,” says Martin.

“Chris Atkinson is equally well-known to Kiwi rally fans, particularly from his time with Subaru, so it’s exciting to see that Chris has recently signed for this new opportunity to compete on the international rally stage. We look forward to seeing him in action against top Kiwi drivers like Richard Mason, Emma Gilmour and Chris West on the fantastic roads around Whangarei and Kaipara during our event.”

Queensland-born Atkinson has competed at the highest level of the sport, collecting 40 stage wins in the FIA World Rally Championship in four years with the Subaru team. The 30-year-old Australian join McRae in what will be one of the strongest driver line-ups for the seven-round FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, which starts on 24 April with Proton’s home event, Rally Malaysia.
 
Atkinson said: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to drive the next generation of rally car. I’m really excited about the year ahead. I’ve tested the Satria Neo S2000 briefly in Britain and it’s a very, very good car. I’m looking forward to working with Proton and Alister [McRae] in the year ahead.”

Proton’s team manager Chris Mellors said: “Chris Atkinson is going to bring another dimension to the team. We’re a real Asia Pacific team now: a Malaysian manufacturer with a native Australian driving one car and a Scotsman living in Australia in the other. There’s no doubt, this is going to be an exciting season for Proton and all concerned with the programme.”
 
The International Rally of Whangarei features on two rally championship calendars again in 2010 – it’s a round of both the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and the Vantage Aluminium New Zealand Rally Championship.

With the event headquarters and service park located at the Quayside Town Basin in downtown Whangarei, the two-day rally covers 285km of gravel, divided into 16 special stages on roads between Whangarei and Paparoa.

The event enjoys considerable support from the Kaipara and Whangarei communities and in return, provides half the proceeds of all spectator ticket sales back to the community via groups such as the Maungaturoto Co-operative.

Rally fans can enjoy meeting the star Asia Pacific drivers including the official driver autograph signing session in Whangarei’s Cameron Street Mall from 4pm on Friday 2 July, before the exciting ceremonial start at 5pm, says Martin.