Richard and L’Estage dogfight at Pines

Posted on 21. Nov, 2009 by Dean in Perce Neige 2009

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of Subaru
Rally Team Canada held a two second lead after the second service at
the 2009 Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft, Ontario.

Richard is also in a fight for the
overall 2009 Canadian Rally Championship, and needs a win to secure
his best chance at earning another title. After a roll in testing
last night, Richard admitted that he wasn't totally on pace this
morning.

“I was a little rattled after last
night, but we're getting back into it,” said Richard during the
second service on Saturday. “The Peanut stage was really rough and
muddy, but at least right now you can still stop and turn.”

Richard is in a battle with Antoine
L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in their Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X. For
L'Estage to earn the Canadian Rally Championship, the team needs to
finish in second place, even if Richard wins.

“We're two seconds behind Pat right
now,” said L'Estage. “We're 24 seconds ahead of ACP, and trading
times with Pat, so everything is good.”

L'Estage has shown discipline in the
past to drive smart with the Championship in mind, but he's got more
to contend with at Tall Pines. Frank and Dan Sprongl are driving a
second factory Subaru car, with the aim to help secure the
manufacturers title for Subaru.

“I do have a leash on,” said Frank.
“The goal is to capture the manufacturers title, not to win.”

Nevertheless, a second place finish by
Sprongl and a win by Richard will hand the Canadian Rally
Championship to Richard and Ockwell, for a second consecutive
national title. Sprongl is fourth, about a minute adrift of the
leaders.

“We can gain and build a little more
speed, but it's been about two years since I have driven on gravel,”
said Sprongl.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey
suffered problems over the first two stages.

“We broke a wheel on the first stage,
and then had a flat on the second stage,” said Comrie-Picard.
“We're really driving at the limit, our margin is almost
non-existent. We're just trying to get everythign out of the car.”

“Check!” said Wimpey.

Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy retired after Henderson became sick, similar to what happened last year.

“At the end of the Peanut, I started
to feel sick just like last year,” said Henderson.

Maxime Losier has shown surprising
speed early in the day.

“I came here to learn to be more
technical, so maybe it's working out more quickly than I thought,”
said Losier, whose brother Simon is typically the faster driver.

The Zedrils are proving to be extremely
fast, walking away with Gr2, though neither of them feel like it.

“We're not on the pace,” said Jody
Zedril. “Not sure what's up, but we're just not in it. These roads
are really different than the faster more open roads on the rally, so
maybe we just need to adjust more.”

Usual rivals Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy
Brandt are trying to stay clean.

“I really got a sense of how much
work it was to repair the car after Defi,” said Kocandrle. “We're
still taking really aggressive lines, but we're not going into them
100%.”

Leo Urlichich continued to have
problems, dropping down the order after engine management problems
cut power.

Chris Martin and Phil Narini are in a
tight battle with Nick and Kelly Mathew for the Ontario Performance
Rally Championship. Whichever team wins the event will also win the
title, and both teams have suffered problems so far.

“We got stuck in a rut on the
Peanut,” said Martin, whose car was missing a driver's side window
and mirror, netting up instead. “We also had a flat, and lost boost
on the first stage.

“We cut a coolant hose on the first
stage and it actually caught fire, but we were able to get everything
repaired,” said Mathew.

The two are about 45 seconds apart,
with the Mathew's eager to make up time.

Targa veterans Roy Hopkins and Adrianne
Hughes decided to try their hands at a gravel event, opting for a VW
Golf rather than their BMW.

“We're doing a great job with the
notes,” said Hopkins. “There's deep mud, but we just need to keep
the car moving.”

There's another 150kms of stages to go,
with plenty of action ahead.

Photos by Dean Campbell