Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard win Defi, lead championship

Posted on 12. Sep, 2009 by Dean in Rallye Defi 2009

Predictions from the top of the order
on Friday at the Rallye Defi all sang the same refrain – whoever
could lead the event out of the stages on Saturday morning would be
the winner. These words soon proved prophetic, as Antoine L'Estage
and Nathalie Richard took the lead by midday on Saturday and went on
to win the 2009 Rallye Defi.

“We're very happy, the car was
perfect the entire rally, and we now have the lead in the
championship,” said L'Estage.

L'Estage and Richard have been
campaigning the Mitsubishi Rockstar Energy Drink Concerto EVO X since
the start of 2009, but as with any car in development, the Evolution
suffered teething problems. With the rough roads of Defi behind them,
it appears that the troubles may be in the past.

“The car is exactly where we want it
now, which is perfect. We're stoked about the future, and also to
have tied the record for most wins at Defi,” said L'Estage of a
record he now jointly holds with John Buffum.

The rally would end early for
L'Estage's closest competition, Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of the
Subaru Rally Team Canada.

“Near the end of one stage, we got
some air over a rock section and the transmission jammed in fifth
gear,” said Richard. “We could barely get going again, and after
a hairpin, the clutch gave out. We just couldn't get the car going up
the hill in fifth.”

For Richard, the retirement means he
drops into second place in the points standings, 11 points behind
L'Estage.

“We broke the record on Mulgrave by
15 seconds,” said Ockwell, indicating the pace the two had run up
to the failure.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Robbie Durant
also suffered mechanical problems, putting them out of the event.

“We clipped something on stage nine,”
said Durant. “We think maybe a rock got pulled into the front wheel
well and rattled around inside. It seems to have broken the line to
the oil cooler. We tried to make repairs at the side of the road, but
couldn't keep going without risking blowing the engine.”

With Richard and Comrie-Picard both
out, Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy moved into second place. The
pair were driving Sylvain Erickson's Subaru STI for the event. A few
big impacts on the rough morning stages broke a wheel and bent a
lateral link, but were not enough to stop Henderson.

“We were trying very hard to learn
the car,” said Henderson. “It's very different than my usual car,
with more power and anti-lag as well, so you have to drive
differently.”

Third place was the surprise of the
event. Jean Sebastien Besner appeared to have third locked up until
he blew a turbo late Saturday. His retirement handed the final podium
position to newcomer Steeve Hobbs and Jean-Mathieu Tremblay, who were
running just their second national event.

“We started the rally in 29^th
place, and we've finished third,” said Hobbs. “It's amazing!”

"Crazy" Leo Urlichich and Martin Headland suffered problems early Saturday, causing the rear brakes to catch fire. The two were able to continue, but lost a lot of time. Once repairs were made, they climbed back up the order, eventually finishing fourth.

Simon Losier also had a great deal of trouble through the day.

"I've never broken so much stuff in a rally but still be able to fix it and keep going," grinned Losier. "We broke two front shocks, brake lines. It's amazing."

On the top step of the regional podium
was Martin Donnelly and Dave Shindle.

“After ten years of running rallies,
I have finally won a regional event,” said Donnelly. Despite
numerous podium finishes, a top result had until now eluded the Irish
driver. “All we were looking for was a top ten finish, so this is
amazing!”

Second in the regional was Nick Mathew
and Keith Morrison. Trouble had dogged the team all day, with
throttle issues, and brake issues and a loss of power on Saturday.

“We needed this to stay in it for the
Ontario championship,” said Mathew. “We had so many problems,
that we were able to podium is fantastic. Amazing work by the Planet
Motorsport crew to keep us in it all the way to the end.”

Third place went to the rear wheel
drive Mazda RX-7 of Neil and Lorna Wright. Recent transplants from
Calgary, the pair were able to keep the Mazda reliable despite the
rough conditions.

“We blew a strut but we were able to
finish on a mix of Hot Bits and Koni suspension,” said Neil Wright.
“Six years of running this car, and never has a Mazda suspension
component failed, only aftermarket parts.”

“This also lets us clinch the
Production Sport National Championship,” said Wright. “Now I can
build this into the Group2 car it should be, with that title under
it!”

The Zedrils were the fastest two wheel
drive car overall, pulling away from their competition through the
entire event.

“It was tough. We had to be really
careful not to make mistakes and get a puncture, because the
competition was really tight, we couldn't risk them catching us,”
said Jody Zedril. “Still, you can't go too slow either.”

The competition mentioned came from
Eric Grochowski and Leanne Junnila in their VW Golf, and Peter
Kocandrle and Jimmy Brandt in a Suzuki Swift.

“We were struggling to find our pace
at the start,” said Grochowski. He and Junnila haven't run an event
since the Rocky Mountain Rally in May, where they tore a rear corner
off the car. “We were starting to get back into the groove, but
really, we wanted to break our Defi curse of not finishing.”

The two wrapped up the event third in
Gr2, placing 16^th overall.

For Kocandrle, the event tested the
endurance of the car and the creativity of the crew.

“The car just took a beating, and I
broke the suspension in ways that we've never seen before,” said
Kocandrle. “It was a real lesson in bringing spares, because if we
hadn't, we never would have finished.”

Though known for fast, at the limit
driving, Kocandrle kept his pace steady and his lines clean to try to
minimize the damage the rough roads would do to the car.

Others would not be so lucky. Twenty cars –
nearly half the entry – were forced out of the event either due to
a crash or mechanical problems.