High-octane action was the theme for the 2006 edition of the famous race organized by Club Autos Sport Défi Inc. (CASDI) last September 8 and 9. The event had been officially kicked off at a press conference at "La Brasserie les 2-Richard" in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts on August 21. On hand were three mayors representing the three towns where the performance rally is held.
Laurent Paquette of Ste-Agathe, Richard Chartrand of Duhamel, and Stéphane Séguin of Montpellier were introduced to the media by the rally's organizer, B.Gilles Lacroix.
This year, the Défi was simultaneously the fourth race of the Canadian Rally Championship, the third race of the "Championnat Régional de Rallyes Invitation du Québec" (CRRIQ) as well as the fifth race of the Ontario Performance Rally Championship (OPRC). For the first time ever, the event was also on the calendar of the Rally America Eastern Regional Championship (RA-ERC), which is why a few U.S. teams took part in the race.
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Overall, 38 teams were registered and the rally promised to offer lots of action both to the competitors and the spectators. The organizing committee kept its word despite a major rainstorm on Friday night that made things really muddy. The photographers didn't have an easy time either; it was almost impossible to take good pictures during the heavy part of the rainstorm. You had to be crazy or deeply passionate to stay late until after the third stop in Palomino. For my part, I ran to my vehicle and got out of there right after seeing Truck 99 (the rally's clean-cup car) a second time. I was soaking wet and covered in mud from head to toe.
Erickson leading after the five stages of Ste-AgatheThe team made up of Silvain Erickson (driver) and his daughter Chloé (co-driver) was 13 seconds ahead of L'Estage/Richard at the end of Friday night, after the five stages of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts. The rally then moved to Montpellier on Saturday morning. Actually, teams had to move at 6 A.M. from Ste-Jovite to Montpellier because the first stage on asphalt was scheduled just an hour later while the second stage was set to begin at 8 A.M. For the rest of the day, the rally took place in Duhamel. On the
menu: a long 42.45 km stage between Simon and Mulet - twice - as well as the Lac Gagnon (28.75 km) and Duhamel (26.12 km) stages - twice again.
I decided to watch the Simon/Mulet stage from a spot where I could take exclusive pictures. I chose to stay near the little steel bridge, which is past mid-course on the 30th km. My experience served me well as I took several good shots of the action. Some competitors jumped more than a foot in the air before landing on the little bridge, still dampened by the rain of the previous day. What a way to test the nerves!
Surprise After the 00 and 0 cars had officially opened the course, I was expecting to see Erickson come out first since he was the leader. My friend Antoine L'Estage took me by surprise by hitting the steel bridge before all the other drivers. He and his new co-driver Nathalie Richard went past me so quickly with their Hyundai Tiburon that I was only able to take two pictures. In fact, they were so quick that I had to look at one of the two pictures to read the sign on the front of their car. Antoine later explained to me that he had hit a sign in a spectator zone and that it got
stuck on their car, causing overheating and jeopardizing their chances of winning the race.
Nice victory for the new L'Estage/Richard duoAt the end of the rally, at about 6 o'clock, Team L'Estage/Richard emerged as the winner. Their lead over Andrew Comrie-Picard and Marc Goldfarb (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo4) was more than a minute. Norm Leblanc and Keith Morison from Alberta finished third with their Subaru Impreza.
