Television coverage of Rallye Perce Neige, round 1 of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship, courtesy of TV2GO and CARS.

“You couldn’t push too hard because you would get caught somewhere” said a happy Carré at the finish, “The snowbanks were very small and you couldn’t lean on them.”

Without special tractionized ice tires, Mathieu L’Estage and Yanick Napert (Iberville, Quebec) were hoping just to stay on the road. The cautious approach and skilful drive landed them second place, the highest overall finish of their career.

“I think Bruno and I are the two guys who never went off the road today, so that was the key to doing well here,” said L’Estage, “It’s a good start for the season, so now we’ll try and get the car ready for Rocky Mountain Rally.”

Craig Henderson and Co-Driver Lyne Murphy of New Richmond, Quebec had resigned themselves to a mid-pack finish after getting stuck in a snowbank, then stopping to help tow Antoine L’Estage out of a similar predicament later in the day. The good karma must have paid off, because the duo found themselves in third place at the finish.

“We were second overall after the first four stages, “ said a surprised Henderson, “And after losing all that time I didn’t look at the results all day. I figured I was in twelfth or fifteenth, but I got here to the finish and they told me I was third!”

Defending champions, Patrick Richard and Co-Driver, Alan Ockwell of the Subaru Rally Team Canada posted a string of stage wins before retiring from the rally early with a mechanical problem. Their main rivals, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard of Ste-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec looked set to pick up maximum points until they suffered a series of setbacks. A two-minute lead was dashed when they spun into a snowbank on the treacherous Kitigan Zibi stage, and then mechanical problems and a small fire thwarted their comeback fight on the penultimate stage. They finished out of the points in sixteenth position.

The teams of Andrew Comrie-Picard and Leo Urlichich were also victims of the unpredictable conditions. Urlichich and Co-Driver Martin Headland went off the road while leading the rally, lightly damaging their car. With Urlichich and other competition by the wayside, Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey were driving flat out to try and reel in Bruno Carré for the win, but they too slid off on the final stage. Both teams were able to finish the rally, but well down the order.

An impressive drive in a two-wheel drive car, Jon Nichols and Carl Shenk beat a lot of high-powered all wheel drive cars to a sixth place finish. The series veterans hadn’t competed in a two-wheel drive car since 2006, but drove hard to make up for the lack of traction.

With most of the top teams committed to the full season effectively taking a mulligan at this first event, the championship battle will resume at the Rocky Mountain Rally near Calgary, Alberta in May.

Photo: Andrew Harvey/Flatovercrest.com

Pat Richard’s Subaru Canada car is sporting a couple new sponsor decals this year – the previously reported Yokohama Tire deal, plus some Gulf Oil decals on the bumpers. The Gulf Oil brand isn’t widespread in Canada, but we expect the sponsorship has something to do with the appointment of Teklub Distribution as official distributor for Gulf branded lubricants in Canada. Teklub will be relaunching the brand into this market, and is also a major Motul importer (a brand previously connected to the Subaru Canada car).

We also caught up with Jon Nichols as he re-prepped his VW Golf in the service park:

Photo: Andrew Harvey/Flatovercrest.com

The 2010 Canadian Rally Championship starts this weekend with the Rallye Perce Neige in Maniwaki, Que. Teams are traveling across the country to test them selves and each other in the only winter rally in the series.

For Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of the Subaru Rally Team Canada, this event represents the first chance to score valuable points on the way to a potential third consecutive Canadian Rally Championship title. Rallye Perce Neige is also the only event in the national series the pair have failed to win, finishing third in 2008 and scoring a DNF in 2009.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard of the Rockstar Mitsubishi Concerto rally team represent Subaru’s toughest competition. Canadian Champions in 2006 and 2007, L’Estage and Richard very nearly captured the title in 2009 until mechanical problems on the final stage of the last event of the season cost them the event win, and the Canadian and North American titles. L’Estage has won this event four of the last five years, including the 2009 event, when he and Nathalie debuted the Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X. L’Estage and Richard are also fresh off a second place finish at an extremely icy Sno*Drift Rally, in the Rally America series.

While these two heavyweights battle it out, there are plenty of others to watch. Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey were fast in Michigan at the 2010 Sno*Drift rally, though the pair narrowly missed the podium. Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy will be second on the road, likely benefiting from some road sweeping of Richard and Ockwell ahead, without suffering the polished road that will greet cars further down the order. “Crazy” Leo Urlichich and Martin Headland will be set to duke it out at the front as well, and Mathieu L’Estage and Yanick Napert, who have shown flashes of brilliance in the past help round out the top ten.

Taking a look at that top ten, there are two teams in the middle – fifth and sixth – that at first glance appear not to belong. Jon Nichols and Carl Schenk are fifth off the line in Nichols’ Group 2 VW Golf – that’s right, Nichols is taking a crack at 2wd again. Right behind him is the pairing of Sylvain Vincent and Simon Vincent, another seed one team, in a 1986 Toyota Corolla. Just in case you’re wondering what a two wheel drive car is doing ahead of many open class all wheel drive monsters, know this. Jon Nichols was so successful in two wheel drive, that the Quebec championship is named for him! Although currently seeded further down the order, Jan and Jody Zedril have become very fast in their Group 2 Mitsubishi Lancer, and young Peter Kocandrle and co-driver Jimmy Brandt are also on hand in a Group 2 Suzuki Swift.

Notably absent is Sylvain Erickson. This is Erickson’s home rally, and he puts on a winter driving clinic every time he competes. Late in 2009, Erickson sold his car and is slowly building a new monster we can’t wait to see on a rally stage.

With 55 entries, this is the largest field for a season opener in recent memory, astounding given that the rally was very nearly canceled. Were it not for a few key volunteers stepping in to help, a legendary event may have disappeared.

Fans coming to the rally can expect an early morning start and a late-night finish. The rally starts out with short in-town stages, but the meat of the event comes later in the day with some epic stages in the reserve lands west of town, including the legendary Tortue stages.

If you’re coming to check it out, be sure to dress warm, pack snacks, and be prepared to cheer on your favourites. The 2010 Canadian Rally Championship is GO!