The last event of the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship season promises to be interesting as 54 teams head to Bancroft, Ontario, this upcoming weekend. Out of those, ten teams will be making the trip from the U.S. to live this special experience where an ability to juggle with trouble is not a key but a requirement.
Bertrand-Fabi Trophy recipient Antoine L’Estage and codriver Nathalie Richard will be racing for the Canadian Rally as well as North-American Rally championship title. They need to finish second to win the former and have a strong result the win the latter.
Rivals Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell on Subaru Impreza STI 2008 would need to win to catch the Canadian championship, as they did in 2008. They will be looking at the manufacturers’ championship more closely then the drivers’, they said.
Multiple Canadian and North-American rally champions Frank and Dan Sprongl will be at the Tall Pine this weekend. They have been away since 2006 but will nevertheless be trying to help Subaru improve its standing in the manufacturers’ championship with the best result they can pull-off with.
As nine Mitsubishi teams are registered, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpsey will be trying to get the North-American Rally Cup in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. L’Estage and Richard are also driving a Lancer.
In the Group 5 category, Zbigniew Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski will be trying to win the title against strong competition made constant by Martin Walter and Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff. The former are driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart and the latter, a Nissan 240 SX.
Cars settings, road and tire selection will be the most important factors to look out for this weekend as many titles could still go one direction or the other. Incidents happen fast and easily in Bancroft; all teams will have to look up to them and learn to deal rapidly with their consequences in order to have a strong finish.
Bertrand-Fabi Trophy recipient Antoine L’Estage and codriver Nathalie Richard will be racing for the Canadian Rally as well as North-American Rally championship title. They need to finish second to win the former and have a strong result the win the latter.
Rivals Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell on Subaru Impreza STI 2008 would need to win to catch the Canadian championship, as they did in 2008. They will be looking at the manufacturers’ championship more closely then the drivers’, they said.
Multiple Canadian and North-American rally champions Frank and Dan Sprongl will be at the Tall Pine this weekend. They have been away since 2006 but will nevertheless be trying to help Subaru improve its standing in the manufacturers’ championship with the best result they can pull-off with.
As nine Mitsubishi teams are registered, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpsey will be trying to get the North-American Rally Cup in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. L’Estage and Richard are also driving a Lancer.
In the Group 5 category, Zbigniew Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski will be trying to win the title against strong competition made constant by Martin Walter and Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff. The former are driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart and the latter, a Nissan 240 SX.
Cars settings, road and tire selection will be the most important factors to look out for this weekend as many titles could still go one direction or the other. Incidents happen fast and easily in Bancroft; all teams will have to look up to them and learn to deal rapidly with their consequences in order to have a strong finish.