Pat Richard takes lead at Baie

Posted on 02. Jul, 2010 by Dean in Canadian Rally Champs, Event Coverage, Rally News, Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs 2010

Unexpected events have played a strong role in the opening day of the 2010 Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, in New Richmond, Quebec.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of Subaru Rally Team Canada have attacked to a massive lead over the opening stages of the rally. Although the pair have a three minute start window behind their competition, dust was still thick in many sections, slowing the teams’ progress.

“We only make up 30 seconds or so on each stage, and then we hit the dust,” said Richard. The team will reseed into first on the road tomorrow, so they will be free of dust concerns, and aim to open a larger lead to protect against any issues through the rest of the event.

Their strongest competition, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard endured a stressful start to the rally. During pre-rally shakedown, a critical part of the driveline in their Mitsubishi EVO X broke. Without a spare part, it looked as if the rally would be over before it began for the Rockstar team.

Luckily, Crazy Leo travels to events with a fully logbooked rally car that he uses as a daily driver. Without hesitation, he offered the car to L’Estage, and crews from Can Jam, Rocket Rally and the Rockstar team all descended on the car to convert the car from a tarmac to gravel setup.

During that same time span, some of L’Estage’s crew repaired the EVO, but were unsure if the repair would hold. In order to salvage whatever points were possible, L’Estage opted to use Leo’s spare car, having it scrutineered just in time.

“The adrenaline is kicking in already,” said L’Estage as the car was inspected prior to the rally. “This really shows how the rally community can come together.”

“This sport is all about competition, I want a battle,” said Pat Richard after sending his crew to help prep L’Estage’s adopted car.

“I didn’t hesitate when Antoine asked for the car,” said Crazy Leo Urlichich. “I still remember at my first rally, when I didn’t know what I was doing, I asked Antoine for advice and he helped me out.”

During the second service of the rally, L’Estage came in saying that while he wasn’t used to the car, they had been able to make some decent times. That all changed in the final two stages when the car went into limp mode, dropping the team to third place behind Crazy Leo.

“It’s been good to be first on the road, no doubt,” said L’Estage. “We’ve improved the suspension, and I’m not missing shifts now, but we need to fix the limp mode problem or tomorrow will be a disaster.”

Championship leader Bruno Carre was openly disappointed about his lack of pace in the opening stages.

“I’m using a five speed dogbox, so our max speed is about 185km/h. If I had a six speed, we could be going 210km/h for sure. It’s definitely hurting us,” said Carre. “My goal is to get reseeded into the top five for tomorrow so I have an extra minute gap for the dust to settle.”

Leo Urlichich and Chrissie Beavis suffered turbo problems early in the event, but his crew was able to fix the problem. For Leo, that meant things became simple.

“Now the only problem is the dust,” said Leo.

Mathieu L’Estage and Yanick Napert had moved into fourth place by the second service. He too was complaining about the dust, although having a two minute dust window.

“It’s impossible to see where you are going, and Antoine doesn’t have that problem,” said Mathieu L’Estage. “Also, the car is overheating, and we don’t know why.”

Further down the order, the two wheel drive teams were battling through rough conditions and dust, trying to come out on top.

“Simon Dube is leading right now I think,” said Peter Kocandrle. The Suzuki driver has fitted a dogbox transmission in hopes of finding more speed against his rivals. “It’s tough to get things right with the dogbox. I’ve missed a few shifts, but I think I am getting there.”

Jan and Jody Zedril have been pushing hard to try to hold on to second in Group Two.

“We hit the bridge at the spectator area at Camp Brule,” said Jan Zedril, pointing to a damaged rear corner on their Mitsubishi Lancer. “I’m trying to eek every second I can, I’ve got to push where I can.”

With over 200 kms of stages, The Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs is one of the longest events in the championship. Teams start again tomorrow at 8 AM and will finish the day at the famous Baie jump spectator area. Check back for the full story on Saturday evening, and be sure to follow the #cdnrally hashtag on Twitter for updates through the day.

Tags: Antoine L'Estage, Baie-Des-Chaleurs, Canadian Rally Championship, Mitsubshi, Pat Richard, rally, Subaru