The Proton R3 team has claimed the fifth spot in the Sepang 1000km Endurance Race (S1K) last weekend with the Proton S70 R3. The fifth placement is under the Malaysian Touring Car (MTC) class, and it is achieved by car 82 driven by Ariff Azmi and Alister Yoong despite losing over 40 minutes due to a technical issue.

There was also car 81 driven by Syafiq Ali and Fahrizal Hasan, which had to retire early after a crash on lap 8. Nonetheless, both driver pairings did well, especially with a brand new car. “Team Proton R3, its drivers, and the Proton S70 R3 have added to Proton’s proud racing heritage by delivering a strong performance at the 2024 S1K race,” said the CEO of Proton Edar, Roslan Abdullah

“While we targeted another overall win, the team was aware of the daunting task that lay ahead to compete with a brand new car against teams who had competed in races for the last three years and were much further ahead on the vehicle development curve,” he added.

Roslan also said that plenty of data were collected over the race weekend, and finishing fifth in the MTC class sets a baseline for Proton R3 “to launch its assault on the 2025 racing season.” However, Proton mentioned that the next competitive appearance for R3 and the S70 R3 are still being planned.

Nonetheless, if you want to see the Proton S70 R3 for yourself, car 82 will actually be shown at the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS) 2024 next week from 5 to 11 December. The national carmaker will be presenting the car exactly as how it ended the S1K race, and appearances by the drivers are also planned.