The Rocky Mountain Rally definitely lived up to its reputation of having challenging weather conditions. This year, in addition to rain and mud, the competitors were faced with persistent snowstorms covering the high altitude competitive stages with up to a foot a snow. This paved the way for a showdown between championship rivals Rockstar Royal Group in the Mitsubishi Evo X and the Subaru Canada factory team. “It was really a great battle! We won more than half of the competitive stages even though we were handicapped by being first on the road for the entire duration of the rally, forcing us to plow the sometimes deep snow for the cars behind us. We had to make sure we avoided even the slightest error to remain amongst the leaders, especially during Friday morning’s stages,” comments Antoine L’Estage.

At the wheel of their Evo X, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard kept the pressure on their rival for several stages before taking over the lead on the penultimate stage. “I pushed to my maximum, especially on the last two stages. I’m very proud of this win because when a battle is this tight, anything can happen. Our car was once again perfectly reliable. We claimed the rally win with a five second lead and not even the slightest scratch on the Evo X. It’s a big victory for our entire team and it puts us in a good position in the championship,” adds the Quebec driver. This victory is one that will remain etched in the Rockstar Royal Group duo’s memory. Coming out on top after a tight battle where neither team suffers from mechanical problems is a memory to hold onto – this is the second time the team has enjoyed this experience in 2011.

For the duration of the rally, Antoine and Nathalie used the Yokohama A031′s, particularly suited for the mud and the best possible choice for Friday’s conditions, explains the reigning champion. “It really helped us to have the Yokohama A031′s available to us, we need to have confidence in our tires in order to constantly drive at the limit and succeed at the top and we have that with our Yokohamas.”

This victory, the Rockstar Royal Group’s fourth win at the Rocky Mountain Rally, increases the team’s lead at the top of the championship standings, as well as at the top of the fight for the North America Rally Cup. “We have a small but passionate team and we all work very hard so this kind of success is the fruit of our labour. John Buffum and our mechanics do a great job and of course my co-driver Nathalie Richard was once again perfect in these difficult conditions,” adds Antoine L’Estage.

The Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs, the third round of the Canadian Rally Championship, will take place in Quebec on the first weekend of July. Before that, however, the Rockstar Royal Group team will contest next round of the Rally America championship in Pennsylvania. The STPR rally will be held in just a few days (June 3rd and 4th). Reigning STPR winners, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard hope to use this event to increase their lead in the North American Rally Cup and to jump to the front of the hunt for the Rally America title.

Antoine L’Estage holds three North American championship titles (2007, 2008 and 2010), three Canadian titles (2006, 2007 and 2010), one American title (2010), and twenty-eight overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds six overall national championship titles (3 in Canada and 3 in the USA), as well as thirty-four overall rally wins on both sides of the border. She is also a six-time North American Co-Driving Champion (2004 – 2010, excluding 2006).

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participate in the 2011 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Energie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver’s Edge Autosport (OMP), VP Racing Fuels, Exe-Tc Suspensions and Hawk Performance Brake Pads. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit antoinelestage.com.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, winners of the 2011 Rocky Mountain Rally.
Photos: Kris Schofield.

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The shootout between two Mitsubishi teams in class 5 did not happen and Zbigniew Szewczyk and Shabir Haji easily won the category while finishing 11th overall in a Ralliart model. Returning 2WD champions, Jan and Jody Zedril of Winnipeg in a Lancer ES encountered a string of unusual problems and had to retire for the first time in two years.

The Clear Water Design teams had very different endings. Ontarians Ian Crerar and Doug Draper in their EVO VI kept a steady pace in the gruelling conditions and finished in 9th overall. On the other hand, the lady crew of Michelle Labramboise and Elise Racette was sidelined with their EVO IV when codriver Racette became sick in the first leg of the rally. Finally, Albertan rookies Jeff and Emma Tooth in a production Lancer completed their first RMR with a rewarding 15th place in the regional standings.

“Difficult weather conditions are no surprise in Alberta and we acknowledge yet another victory from our deserving leaders L’Estage and Richard,” said Koji Soga, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada Inc.(MMSCAN). “The Mitsubishi cars did well again and we expect to see all of them at the next round in Quebec.”

Next event: Rallye Baie des Chaleurs

The third event of the season, Baie des Chaleurs, will host the next round in the Gaspe Peninsula on the first weekend of July. This event always draws large crowds and the famous jump at the end of the last stage always makes for great pictures when the cars get airborne.

On the other hand, winners L’Estage and Richard are headed for Pennsylvania where the 5th round of Rally America will be disputed next week. The Susquehannock Trail Pro Rally is staged around Wellsboro; L’Estage and Richard won the event last year in their Mitsubishi Evolution.

More information is available at www.rallyebdc.com

Repeat Rocky winners, Antoine L’Estage and codriver Nathalie Richard in their 2009 Evolution stretch their lead in the Canadian Championship. Calgarians Zbigniew Zebe Szewczyk and Shabir Haji took a Group 5 class win in their Lancer Ralliart. Photos by Barry Giles

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Organizers were immediately challenged by overnight snowfall that made sections of the rally route impassible. Volunteers worked feverishly to create a new schedule, and the rally started after a three hour delay.

L’Estage and Richard were first on the road, which meant they would be sweeping the loose gravel and snow from the road surface, making the road faster for the teams behind. Teams completed four passes of the Cox Hill stage before heading to service, where L’Estage hoped for a reseed to put someone else first on the road.

“It was really tough this morning, very bad to be first on the road,” said L’Estage. “In the time where we turned around to do the next stage, the road covered over in snow, so again I had to clear the road.”

Pat Richard struggled as well with the slippery conditions. Running Yokohama mud tires, Richard was confident that they were the correct choice – the same tires chosen by L’Estage.

“In the snowy sections, it’s so slippery that you really have to stay on the line and stay clean,” said Richard. “It’s tough because the camber of the road is so severe that the car will slide sideways down into a corner even if you go slow.”

Benefitting from L’Estage’s road sweeping, Richard moved into the lead, and maintained a small margin heading into service. Teams made repairs and the cars were sent back out to complete two more passes on the Cox Hill stage before heading to the final three stages at the Jumping Pound Forest Demonstration Loop. With no reseed, L’Estage would have to continue first on the road, clearing the worst of the road conditions.

Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and Martin Brady (Meath, Ireland) moved into a secure third place after a fast start.

“We beat Antoine on the first stage, which shouldn’t happen,” laughed Urlichich, who had chosen a deep snow tire that allowed him to push harder in the sloppiest conditions. “Of course, after that, he destroyed me on every stage.”

The two wheel drive cars found the conditions particularly grueling, often struggling for grip. Jan and Jody Zedril (Winnipeg) lost control and slid off the road, losing almost 40 minutes before continuing. Zebe Szewczyk (Calgary) and Shabir Haji (Calgary) also struggled, spinning at high speed and losing time as well. This opened the door for Eric Grochowski (Calgary) and Keith Morison (Calgary) in their VW Golf to take the lead in 2WD.

“I think we’re leading 2WD by about a minute,” said Grochowski. “It’s great, but we still have a few stages to go, and anything can happen.”

On the first pass on the Jumping Pound stage, Richard and Junnila hydroplaned at a watersplash and hit a signpost, damaging the right rear corner of the car, and costing 5 seconds of their 8.8 second lead. The next stage, they lost another 5.9 seconds, giving up the lead for the first time in the rally, with just one stage to go. Both Richard and L’Estage drove at the limit over the final stage. L’Estage was again faster, winning the event by 5.3 seconds.

“The tension in the last few stages was super high,” said L’Estage after the rally. “Today had some really tough conditions, and it feels really good to fight from behind for the win, and of course to take it!”

“Antoine was definitely quicker after service,” said Richard. “When we got to the Jumping Pound stage, we had some confusion with our notes and the location of the watersplash, and damaged the car. It’s tough, but it is good to know that we’re competitive and can lead and win a rally.”

Urlichich was satisfied with his result, a comfortable third place.

“We stuck exactly to the plan,” said Leo. “I wanted to continue to learn, and for that of course you need to stay on the road. I’ve had a lot of changes to the car, the notes, and have a new co-driver, so there’s plenty to learn.”

Grochowski and Morison won 2WD, though the pair had concerns over whether they would make the finish.

“We were using an old clutch and it started to slip on the final transit, so we’re happy to finish,” said Grochowski.

Szewczyk finished second in 2WD, with Jeremy Foster and Chris Kremer finishing third.

Morison also served as the event organizer, but handed over control of the event for the day so he could compete.

“I’ve worked with a really strong team of volunteers on this, and they were good enough to let me take today off to race. Everyone did a great job,” said Morison.

“We had a lot of challenges today, but everyone did their job,” said Clerk of the Course, Peter Hill, after conditions proved so difficult that a completely new schedule had to be created. “Once we saw what we had to work with, we were able to put a plan together to run the rally.”

The 2011 season continues July 1-2, at the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, in New Richmond, Quebec. Featuring the largest fan attendance of the series, the event is characterized by some of the fastest roads in the series.

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 Tire 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.

Rally 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.

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

For more information: www.carsrally.ca or www.rockymountainrally.com

Subaru Calgary rocky Mountain Rally Final Results
1. Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard – 43 minutes, 23.6 seconds
2. Pat Richard – Leanne Junnila – 43:28.9
3. Leo Urlichich – Martin Brady – 45:07.4
4. Hardy Schmidtke – John Hall – 48:14.6
5. Warren Haywood – Jennifer Daly – 48:53:5
6. Graham Bruce – Forest Fyrberg – 49:19.7
7. Taylor Nelson – Remington Edwards – 49:49.3
8. Mike Goodwin – Martin Burnley – 50:33.4
9. Ian Crerar – Doug Draper – 50:34.4
10. Eric Grochowski – Keith Morison – 51:32.1

Photo Credit: Andrew Harvey Photography

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Two teams entered in class 5 will have a shootout in their respective Mitsubishi product. Calgary’s own Zbigniew Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski in a Ralliart model will face returning 2WD champions Jan and Jody Zedril of Winnipeg in a Lancer ES. Both have won this class in past editions.

Two open class Clear Water Design teams will take to the new stages around Kananaskis: Ian Crerar and Doug Draper from Ontario aim a Top five finish in their EVO VI while the only lady crew at national level Michelle Labramboise and Elise Racette has a Top Ten in sight with their EVO IV. Finally, RMR will be the maiden competition for Albertan rookies Jeff and Emma Tooth in a production Lancer.

“We hope the Mitsubishi teams will continue their winning streak and lead their respective classes in the championship,” said Koji Soga, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada Inc.(MMSCAN). “The number of class victories and championships in the last years is a statement about the reliability of our products and the competitiveness of our teams. The event moves to the Kananaskis Country and we will follow the Rocky Mountain with interest. ”

Rocky Mountain Rally profile

Second event of the season, Rocky Mountain Rally, will head out of Calgary early on Friday, May 27. Thursday will be spent for recce for all teams: each stage will be traveled twice at low speed and codrivers will amass notes on each curve and danger in these speed sections. Rocky Mountain Rally has a reputation for unpredictable road conditions, from thick dust to heavy snow. The Kananaskis new route will total 395 kilometres with 187 of them featured in special stages.

More information is available at www.rockymountainrally.com

Jan and Jody Zedril will try to repeat their 2WD class victory in their Lancer ES. Photo by Philip Ericksen

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Victorious at the opening round of the season (February’s Rallye Perce-Neige, in Maniwaki, Quebec), Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard will take to the start of the rally on Friday morning just west of Calgary in the Kananaskis region. In addition to leading the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship, the duo is also leading the North American Rally Cup. At the wheel of their Rockstar Royal Group Mitsubishi Evo X, their goal to make this a second consecutive Canadian victory is clear. “This rally marks the end of the longest break in the 2011 Canadian rally calendar. The Rocky Mountain Rally is a tough event because we can never guess what Mother Nature has in store for us but it’s a rally I enjoy and have had a good amount of success at. I’m pretty confident,” explains Antoine, three-time winner of this rally, as is co-driver Nathalie Richard. “The Northwest US rallies have allowed us to get some good seat time in the car,” adds the Quebec driver, who marked a decisive victory at the extremely challenging Rocky Mountain Rally in 2010.

The Rockstar Royal Group team brings with them a full line-up of Yokohama tires for this event, where the roads can just as easily be covered in gravel and dust as they can be in mud and snow, as was the case last year. “Thanks to Yokohama, we have very competitive tires for all types of surfaces, which is key to doing well,” explains Antoine L’Estage.

A good part of this year’s course is new for 2011. “Although it’s now 100% in the Kananaskis region that we’ve been going to for several years now, many stages will be a new discovery for us this year. We know some of the roads but others will be completely new to us. In addition, the rally will take place solely on Friday, another big change for the 2011 edition,” indicates co-driver Nathalie Richard. For L’Estage, this is something positive. “I like long competition days and it will be a big change of pace compared to the last US rally that was spaced out over three days!” he specifies.

Oregon Trail Re-Cap

This past May 13th to 15th, The Rockstar Royal Group team contested the Oregon Trail Rally, the fourth round of the 2011 Rally America series. Sandwiched between the Olympus rally and the Rocky Mountain Rally, this three-day event saw Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard once again finish on the podium. While leading the rally, the duo suffered from an unusual amount of punctures on Day 2, dropping them to second place. “We had mixed emotions when we left Oregon. I was very happy with the car and despite some minor mechanical problems, we won the first three stages on Saturday and took over the lead of the rally before our punctures. This type of problem almost never happens to us! From there on, we just had to maintain our second place, which allows us to increase our lead in the North American Rally Cup,” concludes Antoine, who set the fastest time on six of the eleven forest and farmland stages.

Antoine L’Estage holds three North American championship titles (2007, 2008 and 2010), three Canadian titles (2006, 2007 and 2010), one American title (2010), and twenty-seven overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds six overall national championship titles (3 in Canada and 3 in the USA), as well as thirty-three overall rally wins on both sides of the border. She is also a six-time North American Co-Driving Champion (2004- 2010, excluding 2006).

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participate in the 2011 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Energie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver’s Edge Autosport (OMP), VP Racing Fuels, exe-Tc and Hawk Performance Brake Pads. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit antoinelestage.com.

Photo by Matthew Young/World Rally Sport

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Rockstar Royal Group Rally Team makes its mark out west

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, both of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu (QC), won this past weekend’s Rocky Mountain Rally, round two of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship. At the wheel of their Rockstar Energy Drink Royal Group Mitsubishi Evo X, the duo took the lead of the rally on the first stage and never looked back, winning eight of the eleven stages and a dominating victory. L’Estage and Richard lead the North American Rally Championship and the US-based Rally America series, and are now in second place in the Canadian Rally Championship.

This 2010 Rocky Mountain Rally victory is another milestone for two-time Canadian and North American champion Antoine L’Estage, marking his twentieth overall national win. His co-driver, Nathalie Richard, is now one win away from the thirtieth outright victory. “We were faced with horrible weather conditions this year, with continuous snowfall and extremely muddy roads. One of the key factors in our win was our tire choice,” explains Antoine. He specifies, “We were able to benefit from our Yokohama A031 mud tires, which were perfect for Friday’s stages and allowed us to push hard on the first loop. By the end of the first three stages, we had over a minute and a half lead. Mechanical problems were not an issue for any of the top teams – it always feels good to win a clean fight.”

The Rockstar Royal Group team gained even more time on their opponents on Saturday to solidify their lead. “It’s an extraordinary victory for our team. We made good tactical choices, Antoine drove really well, and the car ran flawlessly all weekend. In short, it was a perfect rally, albeit the weather challenges that every team faced” confides Nathalie Richard, five-time North American champion co-driver.

This victory moves Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard into second place in the Canadian Rally Championship. It is also the fifth time in six 2010 North American rallies that the team has finished on the podium. Moving into first place in the championship is the team’s goal for the next Canadian round, July’s Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs.

STPR this weekend …

Before Canada’s next round, the team will cross a majority of the continent to compete at the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally (STPR) this coming weekend in Pennsylvania. Antoine and Nathalie won this event in 2008 and as current leaders of the Rally America series, they have the opportunity to clinch the title this Saturday.

“Our main goal for STPR is to watch our closest championship rivals and stay ahead of them. Naturally, if the possibility of winning the rally presents itself, we’ll be gunning for that, but it’s not a must in order to keep the lead going into the final round in July,” mentions L’Estage.

Antoine L’Estage has won two Canadian championship titles (2006 and 2007), as well as two North American titles (2007 and 2008) and twenty overall victories in Canada and the United States. Co-driver Nathalie Richard has earned four national championship titles (two Canadian and two American) and twenty-nine outright rally victories. In 2009, she won her fifth North American Championship for co-drivers.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participate in the entire 2010 Rally America and Canadian Rally championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Energie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver’s Edge Autosport (OMP), and VP Racing Fuels. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit Coyote Rallye.

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“We had the perfect Yokohama tires for the event,” said L’Estage, driver of the Rockstar EVO X. “We took mud tires for the first stages and built a big lead that we kept through the rally. It is our first win since last year, so it feels fantastic.”

Rival team and defending Canadian Rally Champions Pat Richard (Squamish, BC) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto) of Subaru Rally Team Canada suffered from a poor tire choice at the start of the rally and struggled to find their pace, eventually finishing second, more than two minutes back from L’Estage.

“The stages were super haywire,” said a dejected Richard, who holds four national overall driver titles and a North American driver’s title. “It’s been disappointing, I don’t know the last time I came second.”

Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal (Laval, QC) benefited by using tall and narrow snow tires that cut through the sloppy conditions, driving to a third place finish. Their result was good enough to retain the top spot in the point standings for the Canadian Rally Championship.

“We found the secret weapon in terms of tires for these conditions,” said Carre, who worked his way to second place before dropping behind Richard and Ockwell on the final stages. “We’re still leading the Championship, which is great, especially against guys like Antoine and Pat.”

Tire choice proved vital for every team as massive snow dumped onto the stage roads leading up to and during the event. Some roads at altitude in the Porcupine Hills region of Alberta had up to 30 cm of snow, mixing with mud and water to create a slippery, difficult and unpredictable surface.

Leo Urlichich (Thornhill, ON) and Christine Beavis (San Diego) drove a disciplined rally to finish fourth overall. Craig Henderson (St-Constant, QC) finished third at the season opener, Rallye Perce Neige, but struggled to find his pace on Friday. A blown head gasket slowed his progress on Saturday, but he and co-diver Lyne Murphy continued to finish a hard earned fifth.

Jan and Jody Zedril (Winnipeg) opened a minute lead on the first day, and drove conservatively to manage the lead. The strategy nearly failed when hard charging Kris and Jaclyn Schofield (Calgary) made up all but 11 seconds by the end of the final stage. The Zedrils finished 13th overall, also the top ranked two wheel drive car. The Schofields came in 14th overall, second in their class.

“We had a few big moments, but it was a lot of fun to be back in the car after a year and a half out of competition,” said Kris Schofield.

Conditions created challenges for rally organisers. Saturday’s schedule had to be completely redesigned when the road surface proved impassible on the southern stage roads. Organisers created a new schedule with the remaining roads, and teams tested themselves on five stages, finishing the rally late Saturday afternoon.

“It was a collaborative effort,” said Shabir Haji, organiser of the Rocky Mountain Rally, of the decision to rewrite the schedule. “We knew when the forecast was bad we may have to change the route. This morning when marshals were getting stuck, the decision was quick. We had to develop a format to get the stage distances for the teams.”

The championship battle continues at the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in New Richmond, Quebec. Thrilling roads and huge jumps combine with some of the biggest spectator crowds on the calendar, making Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs an event not to be missed.

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 Tire 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.

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.

Full coverage of the championship will air on RDS and TSN. Check local listings. The Rocky Mountain Rally is scheduled to premier Sunday June 27 at 11:00am EDT on TSN and Sunday July 11, at 11:00am EDT on RDS.

For more information: www.carsrally.ca or www.rockymountainrally.com

Rocky Mountain Rally Final Results

1. Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard – one hour, 11 minutes 48.8 seconds
2. Pat Richard – Alan Ockwell – 1:14:05.6
3. Bruno Carre – Yvan Joyal – 1:14:25.5
4. Leo Urlichich – Christine Beavis – 1:15:33.20
5. Craig Henderson – Lyne Murphy – 1:18:25.4
6. Hardy Schmidtke – Adam Vokes – 1:18:25.0
7. Simon Losier – Philippe Poirier – 1:19:13.1
8. Graham Bruce – Leanne Junnila – 1:23:48.3
9. Mark Jennings-Bates – Jennifer Daly – 1:24:04.2
10. Ian Crerar – Ray Felice – 1:25:11.5

Photo Credit: Andrew Harvey Photography

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“The Rocky Mountain Rally is one that I’ve competed at every year since 2003, including two outright wins and we’re heading there with confidence. Our Mitsubishi Lance Evo X is really reliable and we have the best line of Yokohama tires for the roads in Kananaskis Country and the Porcupine Hills.” explains Antoine, a two-time Canadian and North American champion.

With the championship title in mind, Antoine and Nathalie are eagerly anticipating jumping back into Canadian competition having just completed the longest break in Canada’s 2010 calendar. “Since the end of the 2009 season, we have improved many little things on the car and all the seat time I have had competing in the entire Rally America series has been fantastic for me,” adds Antoine.

February’s Rallye Perce Neige was the last national event held in Canada. Since then, the Rockstar Royal Group team has been very busy in the premier American championship, Rally America. Their most recent outing was on May 16th at the Oregon Trail Rally, where the team finished third. After a wheel problem early in the rally cost them four and a half minutes and dropped them to 17th overall, L’Estage and Richard charged back, winning a total of eleven of the fifteen competitive stages to climb back to a podium spot. “We were pretty disappointed when we had to stop on stage, knowing it was going to cost us any chance we had at the win,” explains co-driver Richard. “We then agreed we were going to fight to climb as high as we could before the end of the rally and Antoine drove amazingly well in some really dusty conditions, winning all of the remaining stages. He was a man on a mission and it allowed us to keep our championship lead,” she adds.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard had initially planned on competing at only four of the six Rally America events this season with the intention of qualifying for their third trip to the Summer X Games in Los Angeles at the end of July. With their successful results, the support of their sponsors, and the efforts of John Buffum’s Libra Racing shop, the duo elected to add the two remaining event to their schedule, all the while not losing focus of their bid for the Canadian title. “The Rally American calendar has more events in the spring while the Canadian Championship is at rest” explains L’Estage. “winning an American championship is something that I’ve often thought about but I never considered it was possible before this year. There’s still two events to go and anything can happen but at the end of the day, we’re tackling three championships this year (Canadian, Rally America, and North American) and we’re in a place where we can eye all three titles”.

Antoine L’Estage has won two Canadian championship titles (2006 and 2007), as well as two North American titles (2007 and 2008) and nineteen overall victories in Canada and the United States. Co-driver Nathalie Richard has earned four national championship titles (two Canadian and two American) and twenty-eight outright rally victories. In 2009, she won her fifth North American Championship for co-drivers.

The 2010 Rocky Mountain Rally starts this Friday, May 28th in downtown Calgary and moves to the Porcupine Hills for Saturday’s competitive stages. A record number of registered teams are expected for this year’s edition.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participate in the entire 2010 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Royal Group, Yokohama Tires, Mitsubishi Canada, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Garrett Turbos, Energie Cardio, Libra Racing, Driver’s Edge Autosport (OMP), and VP Racing Fuels. For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit Coyote Rallye.

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Rocky has a reputation for being fast and dry or wet and difficult, and features the epic Powderface stage, one of Mark’s favourite roads. Mark admits that it’s hard to know exactly what to expect until the car is on the start line: “There is a lot of competition coming from the east, especially from Quebec, so there should be some great battles. Weather is a huge factor in this event, and with rain or snow forecast for the weekend, we will need to prepare for very challenging conditions.”

For the Rocky Mountain Rally Mark will be joined by his regular co-driver, Jennifer Daly, of Kelowna BC, and the team is aiming for a top ten finish. Jennifer is looking forward to competing again as an experienced team: “Mark and I haven’t been in the rally car together since we got our best result ever last October. We’ve both learned a lot from rallying with others, and I think we’re in a good position to push for our fastest pace.”

The Prescribed Burn Rally Team will be competing under the Rally4Life name for the 2010 season, in preparation for Mark’s entry into the 2011 Dakar Rally. The Rally4Life effort combines the adventure of a gruelling international rally with the determination to raise four million dollars for charities providing clean water to communities in the developing world.

Live updates and scoring results will be available on the Rocky Mountain Rally event website, and the event will be broadcast on TSN on Sunday, June 27.

The Rally4Life Canadian team is based in Kelowna, British Columbia and competes in the Western Canada Rally Championship and select events in the Canadian Rally Championship which is broadcast in High Definition on TSN and will be Canada’s first competitive car entry into the Dakar Rally in January 2011, driving a Bowler Nemesis.

Locally, the team is supported by Ksport USA, Aerius Engineering, BC Resort Homes, Big O Tires Westbank, AGAR Paint and Autobody, Wyatt Autoparts, Provision Data, Bell Racewear, Pinnacle Elite Athletes and Pinnacle Physiotherapy, K96.3FM and Castanet.net.

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Dark horse series leader Bruno Carre is among the teams battling for the win against the powerhouse teams of Patrick Richard and Alan Ockwell in their Subaru Canada backed STi and Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard (Patrick’s sister) in their Rockstar Evo X. The series regulars are supported by a myriad of local teams, including 2009 Canadian PGT champions Hardy Schmidtke and Adam Vokes who will be debuting their new open class car at their home event.

Spectators will have the chance to see rally cars in their natural environment this year. In lieu of bringing the cars into the city for the spectator stages the organizers are bringing the spectators to the forest. Only an hour’s drive from downtown Calgary, The Jumping Pound Forest Demonstration Loop will be the spectator location this year. Located in the middle of a challenging 5 Km stage, the spectators will see the cars pass three times Friday evening, with the first pass just after 6 pm.

Saturday’s stages west of Claresholm in Southern Alberta feature amazing scenery and roads that will decide the winner of the event. The Skyline Ranch hosts the service park and the awards ceremony.

For more information:

Event Website: www.RockyMountainRally.com

The Canadian Association of Rallysport: www.CarsRally.ca

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