Attrition Hits Hard in Calgary

Posted on 24. May, 2008 by Dean in Rocky Mountain Rally

The clouds over Calgary parted this morning, only to close up and rain onto the first stages of the Rocky Mountain Rally. Attrition took effect early, knocking out teams over the first stages of the day.

After the first service and reseed, teams lined up for stage three, Powderface Trail.  Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard had quickly jumped to a strong lead, taking thirty seconds out of their closest competition, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Marc Goldfarb.

“Things are very good. There are no stupid risks,” commented Antoine, adding “the notes are good but they’re not my notes.” The Rocky Mountain Rally is the only rally in Canada that still provides notes to competitors, rather than providing recce.

“Yokohamas are really strong. We’re in second place, ahead of Pat Richard,” offered Andrew Comrie-Picard. Comrie-Picard is fresh off a second place finish last weekend at the Oregon Trail rally. With only a few days between events, the team has worked very hard to freshen the car for this weekend.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell suffered problems on the way to the first stage, when the rear brakes caught fire. “I was able to free them up before the stage, but we had no rear brakes for either of the stages.” Richard was forced to use a custom brake setup thanks to delays in sourcing his preferred setup. “We should have it sorted tomorrow, but for now, we have no rear brakes. We removed the callipers,” smiled Richard, pointing at the rear wheels.

Further down the order, Simon Losier was out in his Mitsubishi EVO VIII for the first time on gravel. “I learned on a slow car, so I am trying to use that here,” observed the Quebec based driver. “The reputation of the Calgary rally is that no cars have power,” observed Losier. Thanks to the elevation of the stages at the Rocky Mountain Rally, the thinner air means the cars produce less power than they would at sea level.

Colin Armstrong was having problems with a throttle sensor that has kept the engine wide open. That meant difficulties in keeping the car running in slower sections. Armstrong explained with a smile, “I’ve done Powderface lots, in worse conditions than this. I like it when it’s bad!”

Though unaccounted for in the scoring at present, the four wheel drive VW Golf driven by Andrew Miller was reportedly crashed on the first stage and has suffered heavy damage. Miller has not been available for comment.

RALLY RADIO:  Be sure to check out our latest episode of Flatovercrest Rally Radio – featuring interviews and commentary from Friday’s stages and service.

Tags: Antoine L'Estage, Canadian Rally Championship, Pat Richard, Rocky Mountain Rally