Panizzi Joins Proton For Rallye Sanremo Bid

SYDNEY – Sept 20, 2010: The PROTON R3 Rally Team will include one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Sanremo Rally when it starts the legendary Italian asphalt event next week. Three-time Sanremo winner Gilles Panizzi, who shares this distinction with Miki Biasion and Didier Auriol, will form part of a two-car line-up with Niall McShea on the 10th round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The 44-year-old Panizzi has a wealth of experience both in Super 2000, where he has developed one of the most successful cars in the category, and on the World Rally Championship, where he triumphed on seven WRC events between 2000 and 2003. The Frenchman will be co-driven by Freddy Delorme.

Panizzi is joining the PROTON R3 Team in Sanremo in order to give the squad the benefit of his experience on a rally that he has made his own, and to highlight areas where the Satria Neo S2000 can benefit from further development. During the course of the two-day event, Panizzi and PROTON will evaluate the possibility of a longer-term collaboration to help propel the Malaysian manufacturer to the pinnacle of the sport.

Sanremo is characterised by slippery asphalt, changeable weather, and tight corners, which all test power, traction and grip. The event formed part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 to 2003, before being adopted by the IRC from 2006. The challenge however has never changed: making Sanremo one of the most specialised asphalt rallies of them all, where local experts traditionally dominate.