L’Estage wins in debut of new car

Posted on 07. Feb, 2009 by Dean in Perce Neige 2009

The 2009 edition of the Rallye Perce
Neige Maniwaki started this morning with an in town parc expose. In
very short order, it was time to hit the stages, and with such a
strong a deep field, everyone knew the battle would be intense.

Right from the start, Sylvain Erickson
moved into the lead. Erickson's knowledge of the in town stages is
legendary, and he didn't disappoint. Sylvain is co-driven by brother
Philip Erickson. The pair used to run together a few years ago, but
Sylvain had his daughter Chloe co-drive for the last few years.

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard
were busy getting familiar with the new car, and lagged behind some
of the top drivers. “I think we finished sixth on the second pass
of Marie-Anne,” started Antoine. “I can't remember when I was
last in sixth place.”

Despite a breakneck pace set early on,
all the top teams insisted that they all just wanted to finish, and
refused to get caught out early on.

Andrew Comrie-Picard kept things clean
and was rewarded with a strong position early on. Frank Sprongl was
also very fast but clear that while he's had lots of experience at
this rally, that experience has taught that no matter how well you
start, anything can happen. John Nichols was caught out, getting
stuck and losing time before he was pulled out.

Jean-Sebastien Besner is a name many
long time rally fans will know. Besner last ran a rally seven years
ago, and was keen to have a good clean event and get to the finish.

Just before noon, teams had started
into the main portion of the rally, with the long stage, Kitigan
Zibi. At 33kms in length, the stage is legendary here, demanding the
most of the teams, and pushing them to their limits.

Antoine L'Estage said he felt the stage
went slowly, but was able to get faster. L'Estage was fast enough to
start to catch-up Sylvain Erickson. Despite his speed, L'Estage was
unable to move into the lead. Pat Richard had a fast stage despite
transmission problems, and moved into second overall. Taking the lead
was Frank Sprongl, who chose an ice tire, rather than the
intermediates many teams took. The decision proved to be right, and
Sprongl took a 20 second lead heading into the start of the Farley
stage. 

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Chrissie
Beavis tried to find time on Kitigan, but the car stalled under
breaking and the pair went off the road, nudging a tree. After being
pulled out, the pair was well down the order, but still able to
continue. Jon Nichols, who has stuffed and been pulled out earlier,
stuffed again, and was again pulled out. Frustration was evident for
Nichols, who continued on in an attempt to salvage the event.

Mathieu L'Estage was having a far
better time, running extremely fast times. “We tied my brother on
Kitigan, I am very happy that we are going so fast!”. Craig
Henderson confirmed just how fast the younger L'Estage was going,
saying “we had hoped to fight with Mathieu, but it is not possible,
he is too fast.”

For Jean-Sebastien Besner, Perce Neige
is his first time using notes. Despite this, Besner was setting
respectable times.

After the second pass of Kitigan Zibi,
teams headed into the first running of the CGFA stage. A reseed had
put Frank as first on the road, and it appeared that he had carved
out a decent lead until an error saw the veteran driver check in
early to a control and Frank was assessed eight minutes in road
penalties. The result was that Pat Richard had moved into first
place, but whether he would be able to hold off Sylvain Erickson was
up in the air – Pat was running without lights after a hectic
service where his crew replaced the failing transmission. Richard and
Ockwell were running into the darkness without the air of the
auxiliary lights. “It's probably cost us 45 seconds so far,” said
a frustrated Richard.

Sylvain Erickson was still chasing a
noise that had been dogging the Subaru all day. Unable to correct it,
Sylvain simply had to continue driving and hope the car would stay
together. Antoine L'Estage, who had been building speed had drama of
his own. His light pod sheared and broke free, swinging around and
pointing in the cabin. L'Estage was forced to stop and lost a minute
while he put the pod in the back of the car before continuing on.

Mathieu L'Estage also had some
heartbreak when his clutch master cylinder failed, forcing his
retirement. Up until the failure, L'Estage was very fast, staying
well ahead of his usual competitors.

Following the run of the CGFA stage,
teams arrived at the Black Rollway service area.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell had picked
up speed despite not having lights and were fighting for the lead.
Antoine L'Estage had started to push, obviously more comfortable with
the new car, and did well, though he clipped the front right corner.
No damage that the service crews couldn't fix, the pair got back on
the road.

Sylvain Erickson was having trouble
with the aim of his lights and also with his notes. “The lights are
too high, so I cannot see past the crests. I also need a new system
for notes, the [CGFA] stage is very tricky.” Sylvain said that Pat
would be the man to beat, saying that Richard “took 20 seconds on
the last stage, and with no lights.”

Teams ran one more pass on the CGFA
stage before returning for service. The Subaru of Pat Richard and
Alan Ockwell failed to show up, a blown engine ending their rally out
in the woods. Sylvain Erickson suffered a boost leak on the stage,
and co-driver Philip was not feeling well and had been unable to read
notes. With Richard's retirement, the Erickson brothers had moved
into first place. Antoine L'Estage had managed to stay clean after
having his light pod remounted on the car. L'Estage took 26 seconds
out of Erickson's lead, and with two long stages to go, it looked
unlikely that Erickson would keep his lead.

Further down the order, Simon Losier
had suffered multiple flat tires. “I am completely out of tires,
nothing more!” said Losier. “For now, I am so far back that I can
just pull out anyone who gets stuck.”

In two wheel drive, the Zedrils were
continuing to run well, staying at the front of the two wheel drive
leaderboard. Both Eric Grochowski and Peter Kocandrle had lost time
after getting stuck earlier in the day and were in survival mode.

Back near the front, Peter Thomson and
Rod Hendricksen were sitting in fourth place, with Frank Sprongl hard
charging just two positions back. Heading into the final Tortue
stages, Frank and Antoine were both pushing, Frank for position and
Antoine for the win. Heading into the final stage, Antoine held a
four second lead over Sylvain Erickson. Frank Sprongl was still first
on the road after the midday reseed. Near the end of the stage,
Sprongl suffered a flat and tried to drive it out, the tire
disintigrated, damaged the oil cooler and oil was spit allover the
front brakes. Frank spun and the car caught fire. Erickson was next
to arrive and put the fire out.

Eventually, the stage was canceled and
the podium determined. Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard took the
win by that four second margin, with Sylvain and Philip Erickson in
second. Peter Thomson and Rod Hendricksen finished third overall.

“I'm so excited for the win. We came
here and had no expectations that we could win, and we drove smart
and steady while everyone else had problems,” said Antoine. It was
no exaggeration, as there isn't a single scratch on the car. “All
the guys at Libra Racing – John, Paul, Tom – have been great. I
am very happy to earn the win for my sponsors, Royal Group,
Mitsubishi and Rockstar, it is all really unbelievable.”

For Sylvain and Thomson, this is one of
the best performances recently. Both are now contemplating running
more events in the series.

“I will win a lot of money for this
from the Subaru contingency program, and that will make my choice to
go west easier,” said Erickson.

The 2009 Rallye Perce Neige has been a
wild ride for fans and competitors alike. We've enjoyed bringing you
all the action. The next event on the Canadian Rally Championship
calendar is the Rocky Mountain Rally in Calgary. Check back later for more photos from the 2009 Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki.