Reigning champions Antoine L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard are going home empty handed from the Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) season-opener, Rallye Perce-Neige in Maniwaki, Québec.
L'Estage and Richard have earned four wins at the event over the years.
The pair was heading for a fifth when the crankshaft of its Mitsubishi EVO X rally car's engine let go, putting a definitive end to the weekend after only two competitive stages.
It was a particularly sad ending, considering L'Estage and Richard won in similar conditions last week, at the Sno*Drift rally – the opening round of the Rally America season.
"We were on a high coming off our win at Sno*Drift," L'Estage told Auto123.com .
"We're still wondering what happened. The engine was almost new."
L'Estage and Richard have earned four wins at the event over the years.
The pair was heading for a fifth when the crankshaft of its Mitsubishi EVO X rally car's engine let go, putting a definitive end to the weekend after only two competitive stages.
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| Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard, in Sno*Drift action (Photo: Scott Rains) |
It was a particularly sad ending, considering L'Estage and Richard won in similar conditions last week, at the Sno*Drift rally – the opening round of the Rally America season.
"We were on a high coming off our win at Sno*Drift," L'Estage told Auto123.com .
"We're still wondering what happened. The engine was almost new."