Canadian Rally: Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard take championship lead

From the Canadian Rally Championship

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard steered clear of danger to win the 2009 Rallye Defi, the fourth round of the Canadian Rally Championship. With the win, the pair also move to first spot of the 2009 championship.

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. The two had worked their way up the order in a car different from what they normally use.

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

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

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

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

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:

1) Antoine L'Estage – Nathalie Richard (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 1 hours 11 min. 20 sec.
2) Craig Henderson – Lyne Murphy (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:14:27
3) Steeve Hobbs – Jean-Mathieu Tremblay (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:17:38
4) Leonid Urlichich – Martin Headland (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:18:08
5) Simon Losier – François Morin (Mitsubishi Lancer Évolution 8) – 1:18:18
6) Maxime Losier – Philippe Poirier (Mitsubishi Lancer Évolution 8) – 1:19:04
7) Bruno Carré – Yvan Joyal (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:19:10
8) Hardy Schmidtke – Adam Vokes (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:19:47
9) Martin Losier – Patrick Losier (Mitsubishi Lancer Évolution 5) – 1:20:29
10) Martin Donnelly – Dave Shindle (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 1:21:21
etc.