5th place on first race outing for Proton S70 R3

Although there was much optimism by Proton and its R3 team to continue the winning ways in the Sepang 1000KM (S1K) endurance race, the first outing with the brand new S70 R3 did not end with the chequered flag. Despite the challenges that faced the team and the drivers of car #82, Ariff Azmi and Alister Yoong, persevered and fought their way back through the field to finish fifth in the Malaysian Touring Car (MTC) class.

The S70 R3 was a totally new racing car for Team Proton R3 and the project had been approved in August 2023 (some months before the production model was launched). The first new C-segment sedan launched by Proton in 12 years, putting it on the racetrack seemed a good way to boost its image.

The fresh resources R3 had, plus its long years of experience, saw two racing cars being developed quickly, with a prototype concept in time for the new model’s launch.

Despite not having covered any racing miles prior to the event, both the team and its driver pairings of Syafiq Ali and Fahrizal Hasan (in car #81) along with the drivers of car #82 undertook intensive testing at the PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit.

As everyone got more familiar with the new car, incremental gains in outright speed were obtained with every change made, although there were signs that the S70 R3 did not have a speed advantage over the over teams like in previous years.

“Ultimately, we have no complaints although an accident early in the race caused the retirement of car #81 while a technical issue in car #82 caused it to lose time in the pits and dropped it out of overall contention,” said Roslan Abdullah, CEO of Proton Edar.

Now the race is over, the team will be analysing all the data and while the next competitive appearance is not decided, the team will be stripping the cars down again, and start rebuilding and ordering parts.

“While we targeted another overall win, the team was aware of the daunting task that lay ahead to compete with a brand new car against teams who had competed in races for the last 3 years and were much further ahead on the vehicle development curve. So, while the final result could have been better, a lot of data was collected over the weekend and finishing fifth in the MTC class has set a baseline for R3 to launch its assault on the 2025 racing season,” added Encik Roslan Abdullah.