McRae to drive for Proton in IRC’s Rally of Scotland

Proton is handing its APRC rally driver Alister McRae a chance to compete in his home race – the RACMSA Rally of Scotland, which happens this weekend (7-9 October) and is the second last round of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). He will take the place of regular Proton IRC driver Giandomenico Basso, lining up beside teammate PG Andersson.

McRae, the younger brother of rallying legend Colin McRae, last competed in the IRC one year ago. He finished second in the inaugural Rally of Scotland in 2009 and will be bidding to emulate that performance in his homeland.

“It’s always nice to come home to compete again. Obviously, I have good memories of rallying in this part of the world and it’ll be great to see the (Scottish) Saltire flags out there flying high. We had a good finish here a couple of years ago, when we finished second in the Proton. But the competition is going to be really tough, there’s a good, quality entry for the rally,” McRae said.

He will be up against 17 other drivers in Super 2000 machinery out of an exciting 38-car entry. The rally features 15 stages over a competitive of distance of 196.96 km. If he does well, McRae will be bringing momentum into his next assignment, the APRC’s China Rally, where he will be fighting Proton teammate Chris Atkinson for the Driver’s title. McRae leads Atkinson by seven points going into the season ending rally after a podium finish in the recent Rally of Hokkaido.

© 2011 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 04 Oct 11 03:13:06 +0000.

Related posts:

1. Proton at Rally Hokkaido – Alister McRae finishes third, and APRC driver’s title goes down to the wire
2. Proton wins Rally De Nouvelle Caledonia – Chris Atkinson takes top honours again, Alister McRae finished third
3. Alister McRae finishes fourth for Proton in the Rally of Queensland, Chris Atkinson retires from his home event
4. Proton Satria Neo S2000 scores first IRC podium finish in Rally of Scotland

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