The Proton 1-Tank Adventure concluded with the Grand Final on 11-12 August that took contestants from Kulai, Johor all the way to Juru in the state of Penang. Kicking off from the Proton Edar branch in Kulai, the 31 participating teams covered a total distance of 700km as they competed against each other to see who would be crowned overall champion.
Stiff competition was expected as every contestant had competed in one of the five regional rounds; in most cases they had won their category – but the results achieved by the finalists were astonishing with two new records being set along the way. It was also the first time each winning car in each category achieved a theoretical range exceeding 1,000km, demonstrating what was possible from a Proton car when driven economically.
Contestants for each leg of the Proton 1-Tank Adventure consisted of owners, car clubbers, celebrities and members of the media and in each round, the owners and clubbers achieved the best overall results. This was hardly surprising as they knew their cars intimately. The final however brought a surprise turnaround for the media professionals.
The best team in the Saga category was the media team of Ross Hadi and Stanley Raymond, who lapped the field with an average fuel consumption of 3.72L/100km. This wasn’t quite the best figure achieved throughout the competition for a Saga but it was still nearly half a litre better than the next best team.
Meanwhile, the best team in the Iriz category was also from the media with Yap Kam Foo and Brenda Yang smashing the previous record of 4.95L/100km by posting 3.5L/100km, matching the overall competition record set by a Saga in the very first round. The clubbers and owners did however set the best figure in the Persona category with Khairul Ashraf and Zuhairie claiming the top spot with a record figure of 3.92L/100km.
The top three finishers in each category were rewarded with trophies as well as cash prizes during a grand prize giving ceremony at the Park Royal Hotel in Penang. Owners and car clubbers competed in a separate competition from the media so there were plenty of happy faces amongst the ceremony attendees as 18 teams received their prizes.
As with all the regional legs, the Proton 1-Tank Adventure grand final was run over two days. As it was a special event, the midpoint of the journey was punctuated by a visit to Proton for an exclusive test track and design studio experience.
