Warwick Patterson – FOC videographer

Dean Campbell – FOC writer

Erik Ockwell – FOC Rally Radio host

Andrew Harvey  – FOC photographer

After close battles all day long, Antoine
L’Estage and Nathalie Richard have shown they have the pace to continue to be
winners in the Canadian rally Championship by winning the Rallye Perce Neige
Maniwaki.

Catching up with the teams at the first remote service, the
attrition in the event had already started. Andrew Wallbank and Ryan Huber
ended their rally in the service park after their Impreza lost their rear
differential. When the diff failed, the centre differential also failed,
leaving the car with a weak front wheel drive only. In addition, the crew also
lost their oil feed line for the turbo. Until then, they had been enjoying a
good run.

Heading into the longer stages, many teams stuck with snow
tires for their attack on the Tortue and Pythonga stages to the West of
Maniwaki. The stages are some of the longest in Canada and full of drama. Antoine
L’Estage arrived at the end of SS10 without a rear bumper, and spoke of
slippery conditions. Despite the tough conditions, it was here that Antoine
really began to pull away, with over 40 seconds made on Andrew Comrie Picard,
and almost two and a half minutes on Pat Richard.

News that Sylvain had spun was quickly confirmed as more
drivers arrived, and the fourth car to the control was Leo Urlichich. Leo was
able to confirm that Thomson had also spun and was stuck. After being
extracted, Thomson was max late and did not continue in the event.

The action was not just reserved for the front of the pack.
Craig Henderson appeared worn out as he arrived at the control. Henderson explained how
difficult conditions were and added that he “has never been more terrified,” of
any rally stage he’s ever driven.

John Vanos, who is driving an Eagle Talon for this event was
also caught out by the icy conditions, nudging the Subaru parked ahead of him
at the finish control of SS10. “We had a spin at about 140. It was
[terrifying].” Despite the moment, the pair were fine and headed off to
service.

Following the second service at Black Rollway, teams left
for one more pass along the Tortue and Pythonga stages before returning to
Maniwaki for the final time control and podium. Continued snowfall meant that
teams stuck with snow tires. By now, the experience of the Antoine L’Estage and
Nathalie Richard pairing, combined with the reliability of the Hyundai Tiburon
had meant the team had carved out a substantial lead. With almost three minutes
advantage, the pair eased off and played it safe over the last stage, allowing
Pat Richard and Andrew Comrie-Picard to claw back some time. Richard charged
hard on the final stage, clawing back almost two minutes on rally leader
Antoine L’Estage. Andrew Comrie-Picard also made time, slightly more than a
minute and a half.

As final times started to roll in, it became clear how
the three all compared. Antoine had secured the win with one minute and fifteen
second lead over Andrew Comrie-Picard. The hard charge by Pat Richard, though
impressive, was not quite enough to secure any more than third place, just
fourteen seconds behind ACP. The blistering pace set by the top drivers gives a
good example of what can be expected from the rest of the season.

Fourth place looked to be going to Mathieu L’Estage, but on
the final stage, Jon Nichols and co-driver Carl Schenk managed to push hard and
outpace Mathieu to take fourth place, L’Estage and Napert finishing down in
fifth. So-called “Crazy” Leo Urlichich showed that he too can maintain
composure and put in a consistent drive to finish sixth overall.

The top honours in two wheel drive went to the Zedril crew.
The pair have put in plenty of seat time competing both in the US and Canada and were faster than a
number of Open class cars. Running a production class Mitsubishi Lancer, the
pair finished twelfth overall.

Terry Epp, the National Series Manager was thrilled about
how the event turned out, and what we have to look forward to this season. “The
field has never looked any better than here.” The next event in the Canadian Rally Championship is the Rocky Mountain Rally, held in Calgary, Alberta on May 23-24, 2008.

After the first six stages of the 2008 Rallye Perce Neige, local hero Sylvain Erickson has the smallest of margins, at three seconds up on his next closest competitor, Antoine L’Estage. Pat Richard is in third place another thirty seconds back.   

This morning, crews started on the two in town stages, Marie-Anne and Des Eaux. While it’s widely known you cannot win a rally on the short stages, there are many who have had issues on these stages in the past, including some of the top crews.

At the end of the first pass of Des Eaux, drivers were split on what tire choice was best, some choosing snows, and others opting for ice tires. Over the initial stages margins were slim, with the top four drivers hardly separated at all. Sylvain, while traditionally fast, voiced some concerns over the lack of power his car has. Prior to the event, Erickson had built his car but was unable to make all the modifications like the top cars. This lack of power could play to his advantage if traction is poor, and to his disadvantage if roads offer good grip.

Pat Richard was confident in his run to that point, stating that it was simply a matter of getting used to the car, as well as to the conditions and to his new co-driver Alan Ockwell. Despite all of these challenges the two have posted impressive times.

Bill Bacon also has a new car to get used to. He and co-driver Peter Watt have been using a modified set of notes from when the pair ran for Suzuki Canada in a Swift+. The notes, while good, were simply not a good match for his far more powerful Mitsubishi EVO IX. On SS5, the Kitigan Zibi stage, the pair had the slowest time on the stage, though it was not for any difficulty. Bacon had been going fairly well, fast enough to catch Ted Mendham, and then John Vanos, who was pulling out a stuck Craig Henderson. By the time the four cars reached the finish of the 33km stage, a fifth car, Crazy Leo Urlichich had caught the bunch.

Andrew Comrie-Picard has also been running strong, sitting only six seconds behind Pat Richard, but one minute ahead of fifth place Peter Thomson. Both are running Mitsubishi EVOs and are in good spirits thus far. Second place currently belongs to Antoine L’Estage, who has been running snow tires hoping that early in the order there would be enough snow to offer the grip he’s after.

Mathieu L’Estage has been busy learning his new car. At the end of SS5, Mathieu said his car was running hot, and so was he. At present, he and co-driver Yanick Napert are in seventh place, only a few seconds behind Jon Nichols. Both Mathieu and Jon have switched over to Mitsubishi EVOs recently and each are learning their new cars. Jon Nichols has said that while he misses his Volkswagen Golf, this new EVO is a great car and already Nichols and co-driver Carl Shenk are putting in some excellent times.

A few other battles of note are shaping up now as well. John Vanos and Craig Henderson are very close in times, Vanos driving an borrowed car, and Henderson with a sore shoulder from a mishap prior to the rally. Vanos’ choice to help out the stuffed Henderson clearly cost him time, and now the two are very close, with only five seconds separating the pair.

The two Losier cars are shaping up for a bit of a family feud, with only eleven seconds separating the green and orange cars.  Down in 17th, 18th and 19th are Crerar, Donnelly and Bacon respectively. With only 14 seconds spread between them, some interesting battles may unfold later in the day.

We’re about to head back out to the stages and the remote service where we will meet up with Andrew Harvey and Warwick Patterson. The two have been shooting photos and video all day, so expect more excellent coverage from the Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki!

Teams have spent the day on the stages conducting their two pass recce. The weather has been favourable, and while temperatures will dip well below freezing tonight, the high for tomorrow is a predicted minus one degree. With five centimeters of snow forecast over the next twenty four hours, the roads could change a great deal from what the teams had seen today, burying the sand and ice seen today.

Thanks to the two contingency programs offered up by Subaru and Mitsubishi, the field is deep with Imprezas and Lancers. The programs have also drawn out some familiar names. Bill Bacon, known for his role with the Suzuki Canada team of a few years ago is back in a freshly built Mitsubishi EVO IX. "Being American, we don’€™t get the prize money, but the travel money got us up here." While Bill can’t commit to a full season at this point in time, he was running last week in Michigan for the Rally America season opener, the Sno*Drift Rally.

Also at the Sno*Drift rally were Antoine L’Estage and Andrew Comrie-Picard. They finished first and second respectively and both are feeling confident for the stages tomorrow. The two battled all of last season with Antoine taking the title. This year, these two will have stiff competition in the form of Pat Richard and Sylvain Erickson.

Pat Richard is making a return to full time rallying in Canada. With a newly minted deal with Subaru Canada, Pat Richard will be campaigning a new Subaru Impreza in the Canadian Rally Championship. The Squamish, British Columbia headquartered Rocket Rally has taken delivery of a 2008 Subaru Impreza STI to be prepared for competition. For this event, Pat has brought a 2007 model that he has been preparing for competition. When last competing in Canada, Pat was co-driven by his sister Nathalie Richard. With Nathalie now teamed with Antoine L’Estage, Alan Ockwell has stepped into the right seat beside Pat Richard.

Peter Thomson has also made a return to Perce Neige, and has spoken about his intentions to run a bulk of the championship. The 2005 Canadian Rally Champion was away from the series for almost all of the last two years, but has returned with ample enthusiasm for the stronger competition.

Mathieu L’€™Estage is here in a new car. After testing for a day, Mathieu purchased the EVO V that Frank Sprongl ran at Tall Pines only a couple of months ago. Mathieu has high hopes for the car and knows it will be the next move to help him move up in the standings. While he has no illusions of duking it out with his brother Antoine at Perce Neige, Mathieu feels he can be a real contender with a little more seat time.

The Flatovercrest.com team is all on location. Andrew Harvey is on hand to take fantastic photos, with Warwick Patterson shooting video. As always, I, Dean Campbell will be bringing you interviews and insights into the competition this weekend. New to the team for this event are Erik Ockwell, our host for
Flatovercrest Radio, and James Drake who will be joining me as I make
my rounds interviewing the crews. I will be writing the coverage and
keeping you all updated back home. So stay pointed at Flatovercrest.com
and enjoy our exciting new content from the 2008 Rallye Perce Neige,
Maniwaki.