Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard (St Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que.) steered clear of danger to win the 2009 Rallye Defi, the fourth round of the Canadian Rally Championship, presented by Subaru and supported by Yokohama. With the win, the pair also move into the points lead for the 2009 championship.

“We’re very happy with what is the best possible result,” said L’Estage. “We have retaken the lead in the championship, and also have tied the record for the number of wins at Defi. The Mitsubishi Rockstar Energy Drink Concerto car was perfect for the entire event!”

L’Estage has won the event four times. Only rally legend, John Buffum, has achieved the same record.

Second place went to Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy (New Richmond, Que.). The two had worked their way up the order in a car different from what they normally use.

“The support from Sylvain Erickson for the use of his Subaru Impreza STI, and for crewing for us was the best part of the rally,” said Henderson. “We were learning about how to drive the car all day, because it has much more power than my car. There is a lot more speed in that car, but for our first national event with this car, it is a great result.”

Third place was awarded to Steeve Hobbs and Jean Mathieu Tremblay (Lac Sainte Jean, Que.) in their Subaru Impreza WRX. In only his second national event, Hobbs worked his way up from a 29th place start position.

“This is amazing, we had no idea how well we could do,” said a jubilant Hobbs. “We tried to drive safely and smart but still fast and it has paid off.”

The top two-wheel drive entry was Jan and Jody Zedril (Winnipeg, Man.) in their Mitsubishi Lancer. The two built a steady lead early on and continued to expand the margin to the finish.

“We were really lucky, we had no punctures, and no problems at all,” said Jody Zedril. “There is some good competition in two wheel drive, like Eric Grochowski and Peter Kocandrle, so we knew we couldn’t give up any time or they could have passed us.”

The closest competition to L’Estage came in the form of Subaru Rally Team Canada’s Pat Richard (Squamish, B.C.) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto, Ont.). The two had been leading after the first day’s action, when a transmission failure on Saturday morning sidelined the team.

Andrew Comrie-Picard (Toronto, Ont.) and Robbie Durant (Oxford, U.K.) were a close third until they damaged the oil cooler on their Mitusbishi EVO X on Saturday morning, forcing their retirement from the event.

Top contenders Ken Block (Encinitas, California) and Alex Gelsomino (Los Angeles) of Subaru Rally Team USA ended their event on the first stage, when mechanical problems struck their vintage Ford Escort.

Rally organizer B. Gilles Lacroix was keen to congratulate the finishers. “This event was very demanding on teams and the cars, and is not an easy one to finish,” said Lacroix. “The teams that made it to the end are to be commended for their skill in managing the rough conditions.”

Rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” The all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over closed-road courses that typically cover more than 150 kilometers of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Fans can get up close to the cars in the service areas and catch all the action from specially designated spectator points located at the best spots on the route.

The Canadian Rally Championship is comprised of six events held nationwide in a season that extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by Yokohama Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi Canada. The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in Canada.

The next event on the Canadian Rally Championship is the Pacific Forest Rally, in Merritt, B.C., October 2 – 3, 2009.

Rallye Defi Final Results (full results at www.rallyedefi.com)
1) Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 1 hours 11 min. 20 sec.
2) Craig Henderson – Lyne Murphy (Subaru Impreza STI ) – 1:14:27
3) Steeve Hobbs – Jean Mathieu Tremblay (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:17:38
4) Leo Urlichich – Martin Headland (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:18:08
5) Simon Losier – Francois Morin (Mitsubishi EVO VIII) – 1:18:18
6) Maxime Losier – Philippe Poirier (Mitsubishi EVO VIII) – 1:19:04
7) Bruno Carre – Yvan Joyal (Subaru Impreza) – 1:19:10
Hardy Schmidtke – Adam Vokes (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:19:47
9) Martin Losier – Patrick Losier (Mitsubishi EVO V) – 1:20:29
10) Martin Donnelly – Dave Schindle (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:21:21

Full coverage of the championship will air on RDS and TSN. Check local listings.

For more information: www.CARSrally.ca ; www.rallyedefi.com

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With a dominating win at the 2009 Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs, Pat Richard (Squamish, B.C.) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto, Ont.) of Subaru Rally Team Canada leap into the lead of the Canadian Rally Championship presented by Subaru and supported by Yokohama.

Richard and Ockwell came into the event fresh from a win at the Rocky Mountain Rally in Calgary in May, and were tied for the championship lead. The team suffered multiple flat tires through the weekend, but still managed to set the fastest overall time.

“This is great for the championship, and it’s also my third career win here,” said Richard. “We had some troubles, but we were able to set competitive times.”

A career-high second place went to the local team of Martin Gauvin and Daniel Duchesneau of New Richmond, Que., who consistently perform well at their home event.

“This event is very rough, and you have to drive clean and fast to do well,” said Gauvin. “We pushed very hard and never hit anything that would cause a problem. This is also the best finish for a Gaspesie team, so we’re very proud of that.”

Third place went to Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy, also of New Richmond. “We had some real problems over the last two stages with smoke coming into the cabin, and losing power steering,” said Henderson. “We found the problem and pushed very hard on the last stage – maybe 150% – and knew we had the podium.”

Top contenders Ken Block (Encinitas, California) and Alex Gelsomino (Los Angeles) of Subaru Rally Team USA crashed out of the event late Friday. Championship contenders, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec suffered mechanical problems and dropped down the order, clawing back to fourth place at the finish for valuable points.

In the two wheel drive class, a tight battle formed between the Mitsubishi Lancer of Jan and Jody Zedril (Winnipeg, Man.) and the Suzuki Swift of Peter Kocandrle (Acton, Ont.) and Jimmy Brandt (Michigan, U.S.). The veteran Zedril brothers traded times with the rookie Kocandrle, and managed to keep a lead to the end for the class win. Alberta competitors, Hardy Schmidtke and Adam Vokes brought their Subaru WRX to a top ten overall finish and a class win in Production GT. “It was a great competition with Peter,” said Jan Zedril. “We saw how much time we lost on the second last stage and knew we were going to have to really fight to keep the lead.”

Rally organizer Marc-Andre Leblanc was excited about the quality of the event. “I’m very proud of the quality of the entry and of course the results for the local teams,” said Leblanc. “I am also proud of the level of this event in Canada and in North America.”

Rally car racing is often described simply as “real cars, real roads, real fast.” The all-season motorsport sees drivers and their co-drivers take modified road cars to the limit as they achieve blistering speeds over closed-road courses that typically cover more than 150 kilometers of gravel, dirt or snow-covered roads. Fans can get up close to the cars in the service areas and catch all the action from specially designated spectator points located at the best spots on the route.

The Canadian Rally Championship is comprised of six events held nationwide in a season that extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by Yokohama Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi Canada. The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in Canada.

The series stays in Quebec for the next round of the championship, the Rallye Defi, in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts and Montpellier, Que., September 11-12, 2009.

Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs Final Results (full results at www.rallyebdc.com)
1-Pat Richard – Alan Ockwell (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1 hours 34 min. 48 sec.
2- Martin Gauvin – Daniel Duchesneau (Subaru Impreza WRX ) – 1:37:10
3- Craig Henderson – Lyne Murphy (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:38:17
4- Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 1:38:24
5- Andrew Comrie-Picard – Jen Horsey (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 1:40:27
6- Joel Levac – Laurence Fanny L’Estage (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:41:54
7- Simon Losier – Francois Morin (Mitsubishi EVO IX) – 1:42:22
8- Bruno Carre – Yvan Joyal (Subaru Impreza) – 1:43:34
9- Hardy Schmidtke – Adam Vokes (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:44:09
10- Leo Urlichich – Martin Headland (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:44:41

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