Atkinson shows pace in Whangarei

4th July 2010

By Giles Wade

Former World Rally Championship star Chris Atkinson enjoyed his most competitive outing of the season to date, driving his Proton Satria Neo S2000 on this weekend’s International Rally of Whangarei.

Atkinson was faster than his Proton team-mate Alister McRae through the first three stages of the event, only to fall foul of a broken alternator belt on the opening day’s fourth test. The broken belt ensured Atkinson would be unable to challenge for overall honours in the Satria Neo S2000, but he returned to the Whangarei-based event under SupeRally regulations this morning and was the only driver other than event winner Hayden Paddon to score a fastest time on the second leg’s Northland roads.

“The car felt fantastic,” said Atkinson. “It’s such a shame we had that minor thing with the alternator belt, there’s no rhyme or reason for that kind of thing. Before that, we’d been running really well and I was really getting into the car. From the minute I sat in the car before the event, I had a good feeling with this car on these roads, it’s been a blast to get in and do some great gravel stages again. It’s a shame for the result, but at the same time, Chris [Mellors, team principal] had left us in no doubt about how to drive the cars: we weren’t to over-rev them or stress them in anyway. We did that, and still managed to set some strong times. Now we’re really looking forward to the next APRC event in Australia at the end of the month.”