Richard and Ockwell tops at Baie

Posted on 27. Jun, 2009 by Dean in Baie-des-Chaleurs 2009

Pat Richard has won the 2009 Baie Des
Chaleurs rally, making this his third win at Baie, a record for the
Subaru Rally Team Canada driver. Though the rough rally caused
problems for Richard and co-driver Alan Ockwell, the pair carved out
a large lead and maintained it through the event.

“We had a flat on friday night, but
we'd been able to keep pace with Ken Block till he went off. After
that, we really were able to open our lead and win,” said Richard
during the podium festivities.

Richard also suffered a flat tire on
each of the two last stages, the tires disintegrating, and the pair
continued driving despite wearing down the bare wheel.

The win means that Richard and Ockwell
move into the lead in the Canadian Rally Championship. The pair also
won the Rocky Mountain Rally last month after a DNF at the season
opener, Rallye Perce Neige.

New Richmond locals Martin Gauvin and
Daniel Duchesneau finished a career high second place.

“This is the best finish ever of a
Gaspesien in the 31 years of this rally,” said Gauvin. “We had to
drive safe but still very fast, and we never hit anything or had any
problems.”

Third place went to Craig Henderson and
Lyne Murphy. Henderson now lives near Montreal but originally hails
from New Richmond.

“We had 46 seconds on Antoine
L'Estage going into the last stage, and I knew I had to be fast to
stay ahead,” said Henderson. “We'd lost power steering, but I
just pushed so hard. At the end I knew we'd been fast enough.”

L'Estage, who had been having
transmission problems during the morning, lost speed after headgasket
problems. L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard pushed as hard as
possible on the last stage, 46 seconds back of third place Craig
Henderson and Lyne Murphy.

“In the end they got us by seven
seconds,” said Nathalie Richard.

“We pushed so hard on that last
stage, trying to make up time,” said L'Estage. “The positive is
that when you have problems and fall down the order, you really learn
your limits and the limits of the car when you claw back up.”

Andrew Comrie-Picard had also suffered
problems on Friday that put him down the order. Today, he and
co-driver Jen Horsey worked their way back up the order and finished
fifth.

“We took it easy on the last stage,”
said Horsey. “After yesterday, this event became a development
opportunity, and we really were able to make some big gains.”

A battle was waged in two wheel drive
between Jan and Jody Zedril in their Mitsubishi Lancer and Peter
Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant in a Suzuki Swift. The two teams had been
trading times through the rally, with the Zedrils building an
advantage through the day.

“We were a bit slower on the second
last stage,” said Jody Zedril. “We hadn't done that one at full
speed before, and wanted to make sure our notes were good, but we
lost a lot of time to Peter there.”

The margin had been cut in half, and
with a repeat of the same stage ahead, Jan knew he'd have to drive
harder to keep Kocandrle at bay.

“I just pushed harder, and we knew
our notes were good,” said Jan Zedril. “We hit 186km/h on the
long straight, and managed to finish 40 seconds ahead of Kocandrle on
the last stage.”

Sylvain Erickson and Brian Maxwell were
in third place Saturday morning, despite some high speed excitement
ealry on.

“We went off three times on the first
stage, so we lost some time,” said Erickson. “This is not my
rally, the two at the front are too far ahead. I will just try to
keep third place.”

Unfortunately for Ericskson, the rally
did not go to plan. Technical problems midday sidelined the pair,
forcing their retirement.

Nick and Kelly Mathew were having a
better morning than their Friday evening when the pair had two flats
and broke their rear suspension.

“Yeah, we're having a better time,
but we're going slower over the rough stuff,” said Nick. “I'd
really like to move up the pace because I know we can go faster.”

The two were very fast through the
afternoon, with one of the longest jumps – a distance of 110 feet.

“We got back to the pace we wanted by
the end, and I am really happy with our times,” said Nick.

Leo Urlichich is back in his first
national rally after a long break.

“If you only knew how much work it is
to get here,” said a breathless Leo at the end of the final stage.
“Outside it looks so smooth, but inside, it's crazy!”

Flatovercrest.com partnered with Planet Motorsport to present the second annual Baie Jump contest. The furthest jump in both all wheel drive and two wheel drive will be awarded a high performance Exedy clutch, courtesy of Planet Motorsport.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey won in the all wheel drive class, launching 112 feet. In two wheel drive, the prize goes to Raphael and Olivier Guite for their 96 foot jump in a Dodge SRT4. 

The next stop on the Canadian Rallye
Championship is the Rallye Defi Ste Agathe Duhamel in early
September.