McLarenFan
02-13-2002, 07:20 PM
Proton's David Leslie and Phil Bennett have promised that the new-to-British Touring Car Championship manufacturer will cause a few surprises when it hits the track this season.
Leslie, the 1999 BTCC runner-up, says that the Petronas-backed marque's new Impian contender is on course for a February track debut, and that both himself and team-mate Phil Bennett are hungry for glory.
"We've started this programme early enough to be ready for the start of the season," said Leslie. "We don't just want to be making the numbers up. I think we have a great chance to get it right and give some people a bit of a fright.
"We've got an uphill task in front of us in terms of developing a new car, but we're out to win - make no bones about it. It's great to be able to invest my vast experience in the project. We aim to be ready from the word go and not to make any of the mistakes some manufacturers made last year."
Bennett, who switches from the Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra squad, hopes to build on his impressive rookie BTCC season of 2001.
"I've driven the Astra, which was the class of the field last year, so I have a good benchmark to go by," he said. "The engineers involved at Proton are fantastic and have a lot of experience. I'm confident we'll be on the pace sooner rather than later."
but it is still beats me why proton wont sign Plato, he's the best out there. why compromise your chances by hiring a rookie (well he got only one season in his belt...)
Leslie, the 1999 BTCC runner-up, says that the Petronas-backed marque's new Impian contender is on course for a February track debut, and that both himself and team-mate Phil Bennett are hungry for glory.
"We've started this programme early enough to be ready for the start of the season," said Leslie. "We don't just want to be making the numbers up. I think we have a great chance to get it right and give some people a bit of a fright.
"We've got an uphill task in front of us in terms of developing a new car, but we're out to win - make no bones about it. It's great to be able to invest my vast experience in the project. We aim to be ready from the word go and not to make any of the mistakes some manufacturers made last year."
Bennett, who switches from the Egg Sport Vauxhall Astra squad, hopes to build on his impressive rookie BTCC season of 2001.
"I've driven the Astra, which was the class of the field last year, so I have a good benchmark to go by," he said. "The engineers involved at Proton are fantastic and have a lot of experience. I'm confident we'll be on the pace sooner rather than later."
but it is still beats me why proton wont sign Plato, he's the best out there. why compromise your chances by hiring a rookie (well he got only one season in his belt...)