The 2009 Rallye Perce Neige is almost here

Posted on 06. Feb, 2009 by Dean in Perce Neige 2009

The start of the 2009 Canadian Rally
Championship is just hours away here in Maniwaki, Quebec. The entry
list for the 2009 edition of the Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki promises
some serious competition for spectators.

Defending Canadian Rally Champions, Pat
Richard and Alan Ockwell are celebrating the one year anniversary of
their team. At the 2008 edition of Perce Neige, the Subaru Rally Team
Canada showed that they were going to be a force to be reckoned with
from the very first kilometer of action. Richard and Ockwell battled
to a third place finish, and are aiming to finish at the very top of
the order this year.

Last year's winners, Antoine L'Estage
and Nathalie Richard find themselves in the position Richard and
Ockwell were in last year. L'Estage and Richard are debuting a new
car here, a Mitsubishi EVO X. Flatovercrest.com featured a story
about the build of the car and some new additions to the team,
notably Rockstar Energy drink and Mitsubishi co-sponsoring alongside
Royal Group. The car showed up at tech today with a few last minute
details to be wrapped up. With a limited amount of time in the car,
Antoine was nothing but smiles.

“The car is good. We still have a lot
of work to develop the car, but it is a very good car to drive,”
said L'Estage.

Success at Maniwaki is by no means a
guarantee. Typically a demanding event that can punish the smallest
of mistakes. That is no different this year, but with a supremely
deep field, even the best drivers will have no shortage of
competition. Legends like Sylvain Erickson – this time being
co-driven by brother Philip Erickson – and Frank Sprongl are just
two drivers who are out to show their talents in the snow.

Andrew Comrie-Picard, who was expected
to show in his Mitsubishi EVO X, has instead shown up in the
Mitsubishi EVO IX he used to podium last weekend at the Sno*Drift
rally in Michigan. Comrie-Picard will be co-driven by Chrissie
Beavis. The two paired up for the Rally of the Tall Pines, and most
recently, Beavis co-drove for Tanner Foust at the Sno*Drift rally,
where she and Foust finished second overall.

Road conditions are everything Perce
Neige has become known for. Tire choice will determine the winners,
with some stages offering grippy snow, while others are slick ice
underneath a dusting of light snow. Two new stages are on the
schedule this year, and we've been told that the first 11kms of the
CGFA stage could very well determine the winner.

A few new things are in place for the
2009 season. One of the most noticeable are the new, WRC style
numbers. The new door stickers leave more room for sponsor names.

The two wheel drive entries at events
this year will all have the chance to contest the new two wheel drive
championship. All two wheel drive cars, regardless of class, will be
eligible for the championship. The title will be awarded based on
four events over the year, two western and two eastern events.

Tomorrow, cars start the first stages
at about 9:30. Flatovercrest.com will bring you all the action in a
full update at the end of the day, but we'll be making use of our new
Twitter news ticker to keep all the fans at home up to date through
the day. We've also encouraged teams to send in messages to let us
know how they are doing through the day.