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.
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.
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.
