Proton Motorsport will be competing in the Motorsport UK British Rally Championship (BRC) for the 2021 season, with the Malaysian car manufacturer being represented once again by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM). The team will compete with the firm’s Iriz R5 rally car, which will be driven by Oliver Mellors and co-driver Max Freeman.
The attempt for the British title comes 12
months after Proton made its return to the series after a four-year sabbatical.
At the Cambrian Rally last year, Mellors drove the Iriz R5 to fourth-place and collected
14 points before the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation
of the championship. Mellors said that the team was excited about returning to
challenge for the title this year with the Iriz R5. “We have been waiting for
the 2021 season to start pretty much since March last year after committing to
the BRC last season and we felt pretty good after fourth place at the first
round in Wales. Of course, we haven’t managed much since, so really feel we
need to pick up where we left off and have another go.” he said.
The cancellation of the championship last
year means the Iriz R5 has yet to enjoy a season-long campaign, but Mellors is
looking forward to showing the car’s capabilities this season. “It’s great to
be back behind the wheel and back in the BRC with Proton and I`m hoping we can
prove the potential of the Iriz against the best of the British Championship
competitors.”
The opening round of the season starts at
the end of this month, with the teams set to compete in the Neil Howard Stages
at Oulton Park Race Circuit, a location Mellors is familiar with. “The plan
will certainly be to get a good start to the season under our belts at Oulton
to see where the pace is,” he said.
Proton is no stranger to rallying in the
UK – the brand has an association with rally championships in the country that
stems back to the 1990s, and won the BRC in the Super 1600 category with the Satria
S1600 in 2000.
