Despite a tough return to the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship on last week's Rally Sweden, Alister McRae is hoping for further PROTON outings at the sport's highest level this year.
McRae, a former factory Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Subaru, in the series finished seventh in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship standings in Karlstad, having visited two snowbanks along the way. McRae’s PROTON team-mate, local hero P-G Andersson, won the second round of the SWRC.
After an absence from the WRC since Rally New Zealand, 2007, McRae said: “It was great to be back. I’ve been competing in the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship recently, which is very, very good, but this is the world championship - this is where everything is at.”
No decisions have been taken on when McRae will return to the SWRC, but he is hoping to remain in the Satria-Neo S2000 for the Malaysian firm’s next outning in the World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.
“We’ve got two APRC rounds to contest now,” said McRae, “so the focus switches to them, but after that I’d love to be back in the SWRC. The PROTON has shown here just how competitive it is becoming and I’m really keen to be part of that.”
McRae is the defending APRC champion this year.
