Proton has announced that it will be participating in this year’s Sepang 1000km (S1K) with a specially-developed race car based on the Proton S70. The race car development will be headed by Proton’s R3 Motorsports division, which is now housed under the Proton Global Services (PGS) subsidiary.
No details are available for the upcoming S1K Proton S70 R3 race car yet, but as the national carmaker will definitely be gunning for an overall win like before, we can pretty much assume that it’ll be developed according to the top-of-the-range M Production (MTC) category’s specification.
That means a completely stripped out interior for weight savings, roll cage, suspension and aerodynamic redesign, better brakes, and of course a revamped powertrain that will most definitely make more power, and more importantly withstand its peak performance under high stress loads for over 1,000 km.
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The exact MTC technical regulations have not been published yet, but according to last year’s rule books, the MTC class only allows for production vehicles with engines ranging from 1,401 to 1,600 cc, with all forms of forced induction (turbochargers, superchargers) specifically ruled out. This, of course, doesn’t bode well for the Proton S70, which comes as standard with a turbocharged 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine.
Regulations can change, and it’s most likely what we’ll see here for 2024 too – probably with some form of power restrictor for these cars like many other race series internationally. But if it doesn’t, Proton will have to create and sell a naturally-aspirated S70 for the model to be eligible in the race – since S1K has a 2,500 minimum-production-units requirement for homologation!
We’ll report more in due time when we get more info, but for now, welcome back to motorsports, Proton!
