Proton Confirmed for 2004

[Amanda]

In Autosport today it says that Proton are the first manufacturer to confirm for next year. They are confirming early to give themselves plenty of time to put their plans in place.

[Le Mans]

I am very happy but a little bit surprised that they have commited so early. They have not exactly come on in leaps and bounds this season. (IMHO) Maybe they have some reason to be optomistic for next season? New car developments or new personnel? It is a shame that a healthy budget has not produced more, it cannot encourage other manufacturers to enter.

[cos]

It's good that they've confirmed now, it means they are comitted to 2004 and can start working on next year's car without any dithering over whether they'll be competing next season or not.

[Croft fan]

Not seen Autosport yet, but I think maybe they have commited earliy so they can get some parts for next year tested before the winter break, or could they be changing the modle of car????

If anyone has answers let me know it would be good to see the Proton team do well after all the suppor they have put in to the BTCC over the last coulpe of years.

[Claw]

Good! It seems these days if a manufacturer has one bad year, they leave! But good too see they are not.

[touringlegend]

Good to see Proton confirmed - but I'm sure they were early in saying last year that'd they be in this year and look at how much the faffed around.

[Stuart]

I guess this means that they'll avoid any silly speculation over whether or not they'll carry on which can sometimes be quite damaging.
Good on 'em for sticking with it. Hopefully they'll retain their driver line up too and give Vauxhall something to worry about next year.

[touringlegend]

Good point Stuart - I think David Leslie and Phil Bennett were on a 2 year deal so it'll be interesting to see whether they stick with those two next year or go for some younger models !! ;)

[Les]

Had heard this a few weeks back and that MG were making their mind up at the same time. So I wonder...

Be nice if Phil and David get some real testing and development work on the car. They seem to go two steps forward and one back - must be heart breaking for them.

[The Stig]

good news - would be good to keep the same drivers as well

[Peter]

Always good news when a struggling manufacturer stays loyal to the series, unlike a certain Peugeot;). They should keep trying and they'll get there eventually.

[bramble]

Its good to see such commitment. Maybe they will write this year off and start to consentrate on next year. Perhaps they may use the remaining races to test out new ideas. Not sure what goes on in terms of designing new parts - do they have that kind of freedom? could they use the remaining races as a sort of 'test session'?

[thommo_fan]

very good news, i hope they keep david and phil for next year.
hopefully they will be more competitive becuase i'd love to see them win a race.

[lauz]

great news! i hope that they keep phil and david for next year.

[Claw]

Lets hope they keep David and put someone better in the second car. :)

[Les]

well you are not going to have many to choose from if you want someone better than Phil ;)

[Claw]

Plenty to choose from.

[touringlegend]

Like someone who'd pay to drive for them ? I think that'd help them wouldn't it ?

[Stuart]

I don't think that money is the issue for the team. I think Bramble is right about them more or less writing the rest of this year off.
The key to a good 2004 is getting ahead of the game in testing and keeping the team consistent.
David Leslie is obviously one of the very best ever British BTCC drivers and Phil Bennett is hardly slow.
As the Stewart GP team found, motor-racing is traditionally unkind to any team in their second season (which i believe this year is for Proton) so hopefully, PSP will have learnt a lot from this year and will be winning early on next year.

[Claw]

I think when Proton started out they should have got 2 experianced Touring car drivers. With the team being new, a new TC driver like Bennett wouldn't shine and would need to gain confidence in a different team.

Bit like Pedro Lamy at Lotus in 94. new F1 driver but had no confidence in an awful car.

[motormouth]

Money is an issue for Proton - they operate on a far smaller budget than MG and Honda and in a different league to VX.

By committing to 2004 so early they ensure that the drivers, designers and engineers who are working on next year's charger don't feel that they're wasting their time.

Have you ever had a day at work where you don't feel that you're being valued? That everything you do is in vain? Sure you still do your job - and if you've got pride you do it well - but you don't go that extra mile, give 110%, pull out all the stops or whatever cliche you want to use.

It's the same for the guys at Proton: the team have stated that they want to use some of next year's budget to produce a test car this year. Imagine working on that knowing that it might never race in anger. You wouldn't bother, would you?

Proton have been massively off the pace this year, an embarrassment for a works team - constantly beaten by the Collards, GAs and Synchros of this world. There's been a serious lack of new parts forthcoming, and despite David Leslie and Phil Bennett being two of the most experienced and professional drivers on the grid their motivation has - perhaps unsuprisingly - suffered as a result.

The easy answer from the outside would be to give the "old duffers" the boot and bring in a couple of young turks. Gareth Howell, Mark Fullalove, Gavin Pyper or Luke Hines for example. They would be a wonderful PR boost for the team and in the short term probably deliver better results as a result of their enthusiasm. But in the long term a sensible budget, well invested, and in the hands of a pair like Leslie and Bennett will pay off.

You only need to look at the attitude of the team at the track. Defeat hurts them. They're proud people. They don't want to be where they are - do you think they enjoy turning up every time only to have a so-so weekend? Hell no, they're in it to win it. Give them time, they're seriously dark horses.

:)

[Croft fan]

When Proton started in the BTCC, they said they would like to bring in some drivers of their own nationality, they had two guys testing the cars, so they could get experience of the British circuits, and were expected to get race seats this year, with more cars on the grid, but that did not happen. I think that they will keep David, and get a young driver in, One with a bit of excitement and a bit of flare, someone who can set the BTCC on fire with his entusiam, and race skill.

Maybe they should look at Gavin Pyper, he has experience in a touring car, has the talent, but seems to get himself mixed up in accidents to oftern, which are sometimes his fault, sometimes not.

What ever the out come of it, I hope that we see Proton move up in 2004.

[Ed- the MG fan]

I think that Proton will spring a suprise next year.

It took the Nissan Primeras a while to be good, and look how dominate they became in 1998 and 1999

[Claw]

Originally posted by motormouth
The easy answer from the outside would be to give the "old duffers" the boot and bring in a couple of young turks. Gareth Howell, Mark Fullalove, Gavin Pyper or Luke Hines for example.



That would make the BTCC look even more amuteuish than it usually is!

We need experianced drivers to give the BTCC some credibility.

[John]

Originally posted by Ed- the MG fan
It took the Nissan Primeras a while to be good, and look how dominate they became in 1998 and 1999

Not sure what you mean here... the RML Primeras were introduced in 1997 so it only took then a season to win.

The Janspeed Primeras weren't the best car but they did alright - especially in 1993.

[motormouth]

Originally posted by motormouth The easy answer from the outside would be to give the "old duffers" the boot and bring in a couple of young turks. Gareth Howell, Mark Fullalove, Gavin Pyper or Luke Hines for example. They would be a wonderful PR boost for the team and in the short term probably deliver better results as a result of their enthusiasm. But in the long term a sensible budget, well invested, and in the hands of a pair like Leslie and Bennett will pay off.

That's the full quote of what I said, Claw. If you merely quote my first sentence out of context then you change the whole meaning of my post!