French RDS coverage of Round 2, Rocky Mountain Rally, in Alberta
Canada. English coverage will be airing later this year on TSN.
Produced by TV2Go in association with CARS.

Heavy rain and fog poured over the Porcupine Hills today as rally crews battled the conditions and each other towards the finish of the rally. Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell took the win today in the brand new 2008 Subaru WRX STI.

"It’s a great feeling, the team worked so hard to make this happen. We didn’t expect to win, but it’s great. We’ll take it," smiled Richard. While Richard has won many events, this is the first national win for co-driver Alan Ockwell. The pair were competing in a car that was finished just before the event, and took advantage of their healthy lead to develop the car, making little changes through the day to improve the performance. At the lunchtime service, Richard explained the process. "We’ve really just been trying to get the car faster. We’re making changes to the suspension and the diffs." The pair were also clear on what was most important once the lead had been established. "We’re just taking it steady to get a good standing in the championship." With this first place finish, Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell take a strong lead into round three at Rallye Baie des Chaleurs in June.

Gord Olsen had a strong rally despite the tough conditions. The Albertan was using a mud tire to help cut through the slop, a move that was clearly the right choice. "It’s super slippery, but we’re setting respectable times." Olsen held his pace and finished the event in second place, marking his best ever career finish. Olsen plans to attend Rallye Defi Ste Agathe and Rally of the Tall Pines later this season in a bid for the championship. "I’ve been talking with Jon [Nichols] and it will be great to compete against him again."

Zebe Szewczyk and Thomas Karzynski drove their two wheel drive Group 5 Mitsubishi Lancer to a career best third place overall, beating many Open class and all wheel drive cars. "It’s super, a great feeling. We had super tires, and a great vehicle prepared by Rocket Rally," offered Szewczyk. Last year the Calgary based team finished fifth at the Rocky Mountain Rally.

Fourth place was also a career best for Simon and Maxime Losier in their Mitsubishi EVO VIII. This event is his first in the car on gravel and his first time to the Rocky Mountain Rally. At the midday service Simon voiced his thoughts on the event. "I don’t know what to think, so many others know the roads better." Despite the unfamiliarity with the event, the experience Simon has built up in his Honda Civic has seemingly prepared him well for the step to a faster car. Previous to this event, Losier had finished no higher than eighth at a national rally.

Fifth place saw a tightening battle through the day. Mark Jennings-Bates sat in fifth at the start of the day and seemed to thrive in the messy conditions. This was short lived as the rain continued to pour down. By midday, Mark explained, "The Yokohamas are not working as well as we’d like. We really need a mud tire, but these [gravels] will have to do."  With the margin between Mark and the sixth place car of Hardy Schmidtke shrinking with each passing stage, the strategy was clear. "We gotta push, there’s nothing else to do," explained Jennings-Bates, "It will be a good battle over the last few stages."

Hardy was equally clear in his plans. "We’re pushing as hard as we can. Stuart from Subaru helped us out." With the rain showing no signs of letting up, organizers chose to cancel the last two stages, meaning that Hardy and Mark would have just two stages to try to out perform each other. At the finish, neither knew who had taken the lead, but once the time cards were tabulated, Hardy Schmidtke had proven faster, beating out Jennings-Bates for both fifth place and first novice driver.

Warren Currie, who suffered a difficult season last year finished seventh overall, and was all smiles. "It was awesome, I had a lot of fun, we finished!" exclaimed Currie. The Edmonton resident is looking forward to a complete Western rally series and potentially joining the sports car event at the Edmonton Indy race this summer.

In Group 2, Eric Grochowski took top honours, a minute ahead of Kris Schofield in second place. Colin Armstrong gradually started to have improved fortunes on the stages, but not before a "moment" in front of a TV crew at a cattleguard. Armstrong was very clear about his experience at the rally, saying "This was the worst Rocky I have ever run!"

The next round of the Canadian Rally Championship is the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in New Richmond, Quebec on June 27-28, 2008. Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs marks the halfway point in the championship and a deep field is expected.

Be sure to check out the awesome Rally Radio audio podcast from Day 2, hosted by Shawn Edstrom.

Heavy fog and rain have set in over the top of the Porcupine Hills today. We caught up with competitors at the end of the day’s second stage to see how they were fairing in the foul conditions.

Pat Richard arrived at service with a loose front bumper but reported “it’s all good,” apparently unaware of the damage to the front end of the car. Second place driver Gord Olsen explained the only safe strategy, “stay on the road, it’s very slick.”

The conditions had many teams reassessing their tire choice. Those lucky enough to be on mud tires were delighted with how the tires were working, but many crews were on gravel tires and were hoping to cut some tires at service to help with the muddy conditions. Mark Jennings-Bates was enjoying in the conditions, and reported making time on Simon Losier over the first two stages.

Warren Currie was also enjoying his tires and the conditions. “They’re Falken awesome!” crowed Currie, adding that the open tread pattern of the gravel spec Azenis were really shedding the mud well.

We caught up with Colin Armstrong who was able to continue after the mechanical problems yesterday. “We had a front brake fall off, and it jammed and broke an axle, but we got it fixed.”

The Zedril crew reported that they were having a much better day today. Leading P3, the pair enjoy a six minute lead over John Breen and Josh Keatley in their Ford Focus.

RJ Carroll suffered severe problems after a water splash on the last stage yesterday, and the wet conditions have continued to plague the car today, forcing the crew to retire after the first two stages.

Teams have six more stages to complete the event, and conditions show no signs of improving.

Teams finished the day at Race City, the super special held in Calgary. As cars began pulling into service, it quickly became apparent that attrition was starting to affect teams. Antoine L’Estage was nowhere to be seen and Andrew Comrie-Picard arrived on a tow strap behind Warren Currie.

“We were fifteen kilometres into stage three, and pushing. The motor started to misfire and throw oil. It got tight and stopped and then restarted,” explained ACP. “We’ll try to run this stage and then fix the car overnight.” The pair needed to somehow complete the final stages in order to continue tomorrow. Unfortunately, the car would not restart and the despite pushing the car over the start line, the pair could not get it started and were forced to retire. The crew is still making repairs to the car, and hope to appeal the retirement.

Leo Urlichich was also nowhere to be found, though turned up later with an explanation. “I crashed out,” offered Crazy Leo, before cracking a big grin and adding “no, the engine just blew. I didn’t crash.” Frustrating for the Eastern Canadian driver, the blown motor put an end to his rally early on, robbing him of the opportunity to get valuable seat time and experience at what was a new event for the driver.

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard showed up at service, missing a front wheel. “We didn’t hit anything, the studs all just broke off,” shrugged L’Estage. “We were maybe two turns from the end of [Powderface]… the transit was just too long, so we had to retire.” A disappointing turn for the current champions, this also puts a dent into their championship hopes for this year. “I think this is the first mechanical DNF we have had since maybe Baie 2006,” said Antoine.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell benefited from their competitions woes and now sit in first place overall, with a lead of almost three minutes. The pair continued to run with no rear brakes for the rest of the day, and on the final stage at the Race City super special, the pair lined up head to head against Gord Olsen. As the pair battled on the wet track, the two cars came into the last set of corners side by side, and Olsen finally edged out through the last couple of corners to win the stage. With his drive today, and the hard luck of the competition, Olsen now sits in second place.

Rounding out the top three is Zebe Szewczyk and Thomas Karzynski, who have driven their Group 5 Mitsubishi Lancer incredibly well, showing the power of local knowledge and experience. Just behind them in fourth overall is Simon Losier. Those only his first gravel rally in his Mitsubishi Evo VIII. Mark Jennings-Bates finished the day in fifth and is also the leading novice entry. Sixth place is held by Hardy Schmidtke and Adam Vokes and the pair lead the P4 class.

Group 2 is led by Eric Grochowski and Leanne Junnila in their 1996 VW Golf. Colin Armstrong and Jason Thain suffered damage to a control arm and dropped well down the order, finishing the day in 23rd position. Second place in Group 2 is held by Kris Schofield and Jaclyn Schofield in a 1987 Toyota Corolla GTS, one of two rear wheel drive entries in the event.

Jan and Jody Zedril currently lead the P3 standings, with a margin of slightly more than a minute over Neil and Lorna Wright in a 1988 Mazda RX7. Jim and Rebecca Stevens are the only P2 entry, and currently sit in 19th overall.

In preparation for tomorrow, teams are making any final repairs to cars before calling it a night. Pat Richard has made arrangements to have new brakes flown in from Vancouver tonight to solve the problems encountered earlier today. As with any new car, the 2008 STI is being refined through experience, the brakes requiring more attention. Richard is confident that the parts coming from Vancouver will solve the problems, hopefully providing a trouble free run tomorrow. Provided the pair can hold position, Richard and Ockwell will be able to provide a win for the maiden run of the new rally car and vault into a healthy lead in the championship standings.

Tomorrow, teams will head to the Porcupine Hills to take on eight stages. With the continued rainfall, conditions are going to be extremely muddy, and under such circumstances stages have been cancelled in the past. Stages start first thing in the morning, and teams will battle till late in day finishing at the Skyline Ranch at about six pm.

RALLY RADIO:  Be sure to check out our latest episode of Flatovercrest Rally Radio – featuring interviews and commentary from Friday’s stages and service. 

The clouds over Calgary parted this morning, only to close up and rain onto the first stages of the Rocky Mountain Rally. Attrition took effect early, knocking out teams over the first stages of the day.

After the first service and reseed, teams lined up for stage three, Powderface Trail.  Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard had quickly jumped to a strong lead, taking thirty seconds out of their closest competition, Andrew Comrie-Picard and Marc Goldfarb.

“Things are very good. There are no stupid risks,” commented Antoine, adding “the notes are good but they’re not my notes.” The Rocky Mountain Rally is the only rally in Canada that still provides notes to competitors, rather than providing recce.

“Yokohamas are really strong. We’re in second place, ahead of Pat Richard,” offered Andrew Comrie-Picard. Comrie-Picard is fresh off a second place finish last weekend at the Oregon Trail rally. With only a few days between events, the team has worked very hard to freshen the car for this weekend.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell suffered problems on the way to the first stage, when the rear brakes caught fire. “I was able to free them up before the stage, but we had no rear brakes for either of the stages.” Richard was forced to use a custom brake setup thanks to delays in sourcing his preferred setup. “We should have it sorted tomorrow, but for now, we have no rear brakes. We removed the callipers,” smiled Richard, pointing at the rear wheels.

Further down the order, Simon Losier was out in his Mitsubishi EVO VIII for the first time on gravel. “I learned on a slow car, so I am trying to use that here,” observed the Quebec based driver. “The reputation of the Calgary rally is that no cars have power,” observed Losier. Thanks to the elevation of the stages at the Rocky Mountain Rally, the thinner air means the cars produce less power than they would at sea level.

Colin Armstrong was having problems with a throttle sensor that has kept the engine wide open. That meant difficulties in keeping the car running in slower sections. Armstrong explained with a smile, “I’ve done Powderface lots, in worse conditions than this. I like it when it’s bad!”

Though unaccounted for in the scoring at present, the four wheel drive VW Golf driven by Andrew Miller was reportedly crashed on the first stage and has suffered heavy damage. Miller has not been available for comment.

RALLY RADIO:  Be sure to check out our latest episode of Flatovercrest Rally Radio – featuring interviews and commentary from Friday’s stages and service.