Just weeks after securing a Woodpecker Stages Rally victory, Ollie Mellors and Ian Windress made it two-from-two in 2019 by taking their Proton Iriz R5 to a dominant Trackrod Rally Yorkshire win on Saturday(28th September).
Mellors opened up an eight-second lead on the opening stage of the five-test event in the Thornbridge Brewery backed Proton and was never headed, ensuring the Iriz R5 could enjoy a start to finish win in the difficult Dalby forest complex.
The final round of the Jordan Road Surfacing BTRDA Rally Series was once again awash with a top-quality entry list all eager to take the spoils and end the season on a high. As Mellors wasn’t registered for the series, he could concentrate on overall honours rather than championship tactics and opened his account with the fastest time over the Langdale test.
That buffer would prove to be vital over the remaining tests as a strong challenge would come from the more powerful WRC cars behind. Nevertheless, Mellors took a positive approach over the remaining four stages to win by 18.5 seconds, spraying the champagne in Filey as victors yet again.
Mellors (R) and Windress (L) take Trackrod win
The Proton Iriz is designed, built and developed by Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM) and is the latest example to be Homologated by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l ‘Automobile). Housed in Derbyshire, it is the only R5 to be approved in both right – and left – hand drive format and has seen success in the UK and Ireland since its ratification by the worlds governing body.
Mellors was delighted with the win in Yorkshire.
“It’s fantastic to win here at the Trackrod with the Proton and yet again it proves the car really has the potential to win at any level” he said.
“We didn’t really put a spanner on the car all day long. The Iriz was absolutely faultless which really allowed me to enjoy the stages despite the tricky conditions out there. We knew that a good stage time on the first test today would be important as the ultra-fast straights found here in Dalby really favour the B13 class cars. The R5’s are restricted in power so we have to make that up somewhere else other than the really fast sectioan and we sighted the opening stage as the perfect opportunity to do so”.
Another fastest time on the third stage of the day further bolstered Mellors’ lead, ensuring his name could appear at the top of the leader board all day long.
“It’s always nice to lead a rally from start to finish and this Proton is going from strength to strength on every outing and its certainly a proven package. Congratulations must also go to Eugene Donnelly who took his Iriz R5 to a class win, its first in Ireland and fourth overall at the Cork 20 International Rally this weekend too. Its been a successful one for the Proton and we are looking forward to more of this in the future”.
You must be logged in to post a comment.