Richard and Ockwell win Pines, crowned Champions

Posted on 21. Nov, 2009 by Dean in Tall Pines 2009

After a day long battle, Pat Richard
and Alan Ockwell of Subaru Rally Team Canada fought back following
transmission problems to win the 2009 Rally of the Tall Pines and
repeat as Canadian Rally Champions.

Before the final service, Richard had
problems that nearly cost him the rally.

“The gearbox stuck in fifth, and Alan
was running back to put out the triangle,” said Richard. “Then it
came unstuck and we could continue, but without fifth or sixth.”

The crew swapped in a standard synchro
gearbox, and the team left for the last four stages of the rally more
than a minute behind Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard.

“It’s a fantastic way to finish the
season,” said Pat Richard. “We were pushing hard and might have
caught Antoine, but we’ll never know.”

For L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, the
rally would be heartbreaking. The pair entered the final four stages
in the lead when partway through the second of the four stages,
L’Estage encountered a problem with the clutch.

“It was rock hard, there was no way
to work it,” said L’Estage. “It wasn’t a big deal on the stage
because we have a dogbox, but the transits and controls were almost
impossible.”

The transits would prove so impossible that L’Estage and Richard
were stranded on the start of the final stage, unable to get the
starter motor to pull the car into motion. The team lost significant
amounts of time, and finished the rally in fifth place after fighting
to make up time on the final Egan Creek stage.

The finish also meant that L’Estage
would be unable to retain his North American Rally Cup title, though
Nathalie had locked up that title at the Pacific Forest Rally.

“We get nothing,” said L’Estage.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey
pushed hard all day in their NOS Mitsubishi EVO X, and were rewarded
with a second place finish, enough to earn Comrie-Picard the North
American Rally Cup driver’s title.

“You know, we’re pushing really
hard,” said Comrie-Picard. “The handling is great, but we just
don’t have the power, and the car is a bit heavy. It’s been an
absolutely great day!”

Frank and Dan Sprongl were brought on
as hired guns for Subaru Rally Team Canada to help secure the
Canadian Rally Manufacturer’s Championship for the marque, and
finished third.

“We got a little bit quicker over the
last few stages,” said Frank. “Dan got up to speed really
quickly, and it was great because this is the first time we’ve been
in a car together since 2006.”

The top two wheel drive car was the VW
TDI Golf of Michael Hordijk and Jessie Amend, up from the U.S. The
pair have rallied in the states before, but made Tall Pines their
first Canadian rally together.

“I really like the roads, and
co-drove here once a few years ago,” said Hordijk. “We figured it
was time to give it a try.”

Martin Walter and Ferdinand
Trauttmansdorf were the top Canadian 2wd entry in their Nissan 240
SX.

We really had a tough time with some of
the rough stuff,” said Walter. “We had to reattach the guard over
our fuel tank, after it started to work loose.”

Jan and Jody Zedril pushed their
Mitsubishi Lancer hard in the two wheel drive class, almost past the
brink.

“It’s been a tough rally,” said
Jan. “We’ve just started to run out of luck with the car. The
suspension is shot and we had some electrical problem that killed all
power out on stage.”

The pair had been driving hard through
the morning, but lost significant time to their problems.

Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brandt had
put on a show here in 2008, were slower this year, largely owing to
the conditions.

“This car is all about momentum,”
said Brandt, pointing to the Suzuki Swift. “These conditions are
just so tough, and the car just bogs down in the soft stuff, there’s
nothing we can do.”

Chris Martin and Phil Narini were
hoping to seal up an Ontario Performance Rally Championship. Nagging
boost issues all day, and a tough time fighting the muddy ruts on
stage made it hard going for the team.

“We really got kicked around by this
event,” said Narini. “We just kept going though, and we’ve locked
up the title.”

Nick and Kelly Mathew had come to Pines
hoping to secure their Ontario Championship, but problems all day
eventually caused the team to park the car and retire.

“The car just kept overheating and
then cooling down,” said Nick. “We got through Middle Hastings,
but then the car just didn’t seem to want to make it. We managed to
start South Hastings, but it started to overheat again so we found a
driveway and parked it.”