Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage and his co-driver Nathalie Richard won this past weekend’s Rocky Mountain Rally, the second round of the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship amidst extreme weather conditions in the Kananaskis region of Alberta.
This marks their fifth consecutive victory in the series, after having won the last three events in the 2010 season and the first round of 2011 earlier this year.
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 of Patrick Richard.
L'Estage kept the pressure on their rival for several stages before taking over the lead on the penultimate stage.
Patrick Richard and Leanne Junnila managed to lead the rally for most of the day. Ultimately, Richard relinquished first place to L'Estage when the Impreza hydroplaned at a water splash, resulting in a second-place finish mere seconds away from the win.
Leo Urlichich and Martin Brady, driving a Subaru, finished third in front of another Subaru, driven by Hardy Schmidtke and John Hall.
The Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs, Round 3 of the Canadian Rally Championship, will take place in Quebec on the first weekend of July.
This marks their fifth consecutive victory in the series, after having won the last three events in the 2010 season and the first round of 2011 earlier this year.
The Rocky Mountain Rally definitely lived up to its reputation of having challenging weather conditions.
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| (Photo: Kris Schofield) |
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 of Patrick Richard.
L'Estage kept the pressure on their rival for several stages before taking over the lead on the penultimate stage.
Patrick Richard and Leanne Junnila managed to lead the rally for most of the day. Ultimately, Richard relinquished first place to L'Estage when the Impreza hydroplaned at a water splash, resulting in a second-place finish mere seconds away from the win.
Leo Urlichich and Martin Brady, driving a Subaru, finished third in front of another Subaru, driven by Hardy Schmidtke and John Hall.
The Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs, Round 3 of the Canadian Rally Championship, will take place in Quebec on the first weekend of July.
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| (Photo: Subaru Canada) |