"The rally was going well. My Subaru STI
was handling exceptionally well and the first three stages went great
(we were leading by 15 seconds). I was feeling good, but was
concerned about the hanging dust we were about to face going into the
two late night stages. But, I knew I had to trust my pace note skills
and try to run a good pace (which can be very scary and have a bad
outcome if you are wrong!).

At the beginning of stage 4, there’s a long straight into a tight right
corner. I know this part of the stage well, and was confident I knew
it even in the dense dust at night. But, I was over-confident and
didn’t realize how close to the corner we were till it was too late.
So, I tried to slow the car down the best I could before we went off
into the trees…but, we still ended up going off sideways at approx.
70 MPH. We hit so hard that we broke one decent size tree in half,
and rolled up the tree behind it 15 feet. When the car came down
(after rolling approx. 2.5 times up the tree), we landed back onto the
tree we had broken (on the passenger side of the car), and that three
foot stump went into the car thru the back passenger side window (it
was a crazy sight to see a stump sticking up into the inside of the
car!).

This was the biggest and scariest crash I have EVER had. I am really
stoked that Alex and I were able to walk away from this one, and the
car wasn’t damaged too bad. Special thanks to my team and Subaru for
building such a safe and sturdy car."  [Photo of car via WRS]

Pat Richard has won the 2009 Baie Des
Chaleurs rally, making this his third win at Baie, a record for the
Subaru Rally Team Canada driver. Though the rough rally caused
problems for Richard and co-driver Alan Ockwell, the pair carved out
a large lead and maintained it through the event.

“We had a flat on friday night, but
we'd been able to keep pace with Ken Block till he went off. After
that, we really were able to open our lead and win,” said Richard
during the podium festivities.

Richard also suffered a flat tire on
each of the two last stages, the tires disintegrating, and the pair
continued driving despite wearing down the bare wheel.

The win means that Richard and Ockwell
move into the lead in the Canadian Rally Championship. The pair also
won the Rocky Mountain Rally last month after a DNF at the season
opener, Rallye Perce Neige.

New Richmond locals Martin Gauvin and
Daniel Duchesneau finished a career high second place.

“This is the best finish ever of a
Gaspesien in the 31 years of this rally,” said Gauvin. “We had to
drive safe but still very fast, and we never hit anything or had any
problems.”

Third place went to Craig Henderson and
Lyne Murphy. Henderson now lives near Montreal but originally hails
from New Richmond.

“We had 46 seconds on Antoine
L'Estage going into the last stage, and I knew I had to be fast to
stay ahead,” said Henderson. “We'd lost power steering, but I
just pushed so hard. At the end I knew we'd been fast enough.”

L'Estage, who had been having
transmission problems during the morning, lost speed after headgasket
problems. L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard pushed as hard as
possible on the last stage, 46 seconds back of third place Craig
Henderson and Lyne Murphy.

“In the end they got us by seven
seconds,” said Nathalie Richard.

“We pushed so hard on that last
stage, trying to make up time,” said L'Estage. “The positive is
that when you have problems and fall down the order, you really learn
your limits and the limits of the car when you claw back up.”

Andrew Comrie-Picard had also suffered
problems on Friday that put him down the order. Today, he and
co-driver Jen Horsey worked their way back up the order and finished
fifth.

“We took it easy on the last stage,”
said Horsey. “After yesterday, this event became a development
opportunity, and we really were able to make some big gains.”

A battle was waged in two wheel drive
between Jan and Jody Zedril in their Mitsubishi Lancer and Peter
Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant in a Suzuki Swift. The two teams had been
trading times through the rally, with the Zedrils building an
advantage through the day.

“We were a bit slower on the second
last stage,” said Jody Zedril. “We hadn't done that one at full
speed before, and wanted to make sure our notes were good, but we
lost a lot of time to Peter there.”

The margin had been cut in half, and
with a repeat of the same stage ahead, Jan knew he'd have to drive
harder to keep Kocandrle at bay.

“I just pushed harder, and we knew
our notes were good,” said Jan Zedril. “We hit 186km/h on the
long straight, and managed to finish 40 seconds ahead of Kocandrle on
the last stage.”

Sylvain Erickson and Brian Maxwell were
in third place Saturday morning, despite some high speed excitement
ealry on.

“We went off three times on the first
stage, so we lost some time,” said Erickson. “This is not my
rally, the two at the front are too far ahead. I will just try to
keep third place.”

Unfortunately for Ericskson, the rally
did not go to plan. Technical problems midday sidelined the pair,
forcing their retirement.

Nick and Kelly Mathew were having a
better morning than their Friday evening when the pair had two flats
and broke their rear suspension.

“Yeah, we're having a better time,
but we're going slower over the rough stuff,” said Nick. “I'd
really like to move up the pace because I know we can go faster.”

The two were very fast through the
afternoon, with one of the longest jumps – a distance of 110 feet.

“We got back to the pace we wanted by
the end, and I am really happy with our times,” said Nick.

Leo Urlichich is back in his first
national rally after a long break.

“If you only knew how much work it is
to get here,” said a breathless Leo at the end of the final stage.
“Outside it looks so smooth, but inside, it's crazy!”

Flatovercrest.com partnered with Planet Motorsport to present the second annual Baie Jump contest. The furthest jump in both all wheel drive and two wheel drive will be awarded a high performance Exedy clutch, courtesy of Planet Motorsport.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey won in the all wheel drive class, launching 112 feet. In two wheel drive, the prize goes to Raphael and Olivier Guite for their 96 foot jump in a Dodge SRT4. 

The next stop on the Canadian Rallye
Championship is the Rallye Defi Ste Agathe Duhamel in early
September.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of the
Subaru Rally Team Canada have moved into the lead of the 2009 Rallye
Baie Des Chaleurs. The two moved up after Ken Block and Alex
Gelsomino crashed out of the rally on stage four.

Richard and Ockwell had been running in
second place having suffered a flat on the second stage, costing
valuable time. The car is also equipped with a five speed gearbox
after the six speed was damaged prior to the rally. The reduction in
number of gears is costing the team time.

“We're probably down about 20-30km/h
at the top end,” explained Richard. “On the long straights we're
going to lose time, but I'll just have to make it up on the corners.”

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard
in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mitsubishi sit in second place,
approximately 20 seconds behind Richard and Ockwell.

“I am not totally confident in the
car right now,” said L'Estage. “I am still learning it, and you
have to be so completely in sync with the car to compete at the
speeds we are going. Right now, I just don't know the car well
enough.”

Rough conditions have already taken a
toll on the teams, many coming in with flat tires. Sylvain Erickson
and Brian Maxwell were one such team, though the pair are working
with bigger issues. Erickson has never worked with Maxwell before,
and the pair are using english notes, another first for Erickson.
Despite the challenges, the pair sit in third at the end of the
rally.

“We've had a couple of
miscommunications that have cost us time,” said Maxwell. “We've
also had two flats, which has slowed us down.”

In 2005, Maxwell co-drove for Antoine
L'Estage for the first time at Baie. It was also the first time
L'Estage used english notes.

“Sylvain has rallied a lot more
generally without notes,” said Maxwell. “When he started, it was
before notes were used, so he's used to driving blind. Even with
previous co-drivers, they weren't really using notes.”

“You know, when you think about how
fast he goes, without notes, once he learns how, it will be amazing.”
said L'Estage.

The rally has already taken a bite out of Andrew
Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey, who are suffering brake problems.

“We basically had about half the
brakes over the last few stages,” said Horsey. “It's a
development issue, and we know what we want, but we haven't been able
to get it yet, so we're working with what we have.”

The pair were late checking out of the
first service taking a two minute penalty.

“At this point, this is just a test
event for us,” said Horsey.

A tight battle has developed in the two
wheel drive class, with Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant working to
catch the Zedril brothers in their Mitsubishi Lancer.

“Everything is holding together
well,” said Jan Zedril, as the team pulled into service. “Just
clean the windows, get something to eat and drink.”

The Zedrils suffered a bad off at the
Rocky Mountain Rally last month, and started this event with a little
reservation.

“Of course we were slow at the
beginning, just to get back to things,” said co-driver Jody Zedril.
“We took a stage or two to get going again, but now we're back at
it.”

Kocandrle is working to close the 20
second gap to the Zedrils, but suffered a flat late on the first
stage, and also had a few “silly” moments at the spectator area.

Bruno Carre is also back after a bad
crash at Rocky, though his shell could not be repaired, so he's
renting a shell from Planet Motorsport for the rally.

“It's not the same as my old car, and
I can't adjust the brakes like I am used to, but otherwise, it's
great,” said Carre, who admitted he was taking things a little more
cautiously here at Baie.

Nick and Kelly Mathew are back with a
repaired car after a DNF at the Black Bear regional rally in Ontario,
just two weeks ago. The bad luck has yet to leave the team it seems,
as the two suffered two flats over the first three stages, and also
bent a strut, limping into service.

“After all the work Planet Motorsport
did to get us ready for Baie, this should be easy for them,” said
driver Nick Mathew.

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino were
unavailable for comment after the crash, but the crew at Subaru Rally
Team USA informed us that the pair are ok.

The crash created a force majeur to be
applied on stage four, and the delay meant that stage five was
canceled. All teams that completed stage four will keep their times,
and any car that did not make it through would be given the time of
the slowest car to complete the stage.

Stages start early tomorrow and the
rally concludes at the famous Camp Brule jump.

The Rallye Baie
Des Chaleurs is a few hours away and teams will be fighting in one of
the tightest championship battles in years. With the top eight teams in
the Canadian Rally Championship separated by just 10 points, Baie will
be a shootout right to the finish.

Both Pat Richard
and Antoine L'Estage have each earned one win and suffered one DNF this
year, resulting in a tie for the championship lead at 23 points each.
Neither one can afford to give the other driver a chance, but a
mistake here could be costly, potentially ending a championship run.

“We really need
to manage our speed at this event,” says Richard, “The
championship is so close that you can't really back off to save the
car, but this event is rough and you need to be careful."

In the ten point
spread behind the two lead drivers are another 6 teams ready to
pounce on any mistake an opponent makes.

Sylvain Erickson,
who has won here in the past, is hoping to score some valuable
championship points, and at only six point back from the leaders, has
the speed and skill to threaten for the win.

Andrew
Comrie-Picard and stand in co-driver Jen Horsey will hop eto narrow
the gap to the Pat and Antoine. ACP sits only four points back, and
finished second place despite a difficult run at the Rocky Mountain
Rally last month in Calgary.

All the teams will
have to watch out for American driver Ken Block, with Subaru Rally
Team USA. Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino won this event in
2008, their first time here, and are keen to repeat the feat.

"The
atmosphere is something very close to what you see in a WRC or
European championship event and that makes Baie quite unique in North
American rally," said Gelsomino. "Those are truly world
class roads, really enjoyable to drive but they don't give much of a
chance if you make a mistake."

The event itself
is rough and very fast, which suits the all out style of Block. Teams
must drive cleanly to stay ahead of the competition. Last year, both
Block and Richard suffered numerous technical problems as the pair
battled for the win.

This
year's entry nears 50 cars, and will be highlighted by Martin Gauvin
and Daniel Duchesneau of New Richmond, Que., and Craig Henderson and
Lyne Murphy also of New Richmond, Que. Both have earned podium
finishes in the past and are viable threats on their hometown roads.

Nick and
Kelly Mathew of Caledon, Ont., will aim for more valuable
championship points after a third place finish at the Rocky Mountain
Rally.

Jan and
Jody Zedril are entered after a bad crash at the Rocky Mountain Rally
in late May left their two wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer in need of
repairs. Currently second place in the Two Wheel Drive Championship,
and their rivals not entered, the Zedrils have a great opportunity to
move up in the standings.

"Work
started on the car as soon as we got home from Rocky, and we're all
set to go," said Jody Zedril.

Rain fell
this afternoon, wetting the roads. The forecast is calling for more
rain tonight and tomorrow, which could drastically change the roads
from the dry conditions seen during the recce.

Antoine L'Estage
has summed up the 2009 Rallye Baie-Des-Chaleurs for everyone.

“Baie is
going to be a really exciting rally for the fans and teams, with so
much competition,” said L’Estage. “I don't want to let Ken
Block win again!”

To simplify: Follow @flatovercrest for your first entry into the draw. Tweet or re-tweet Baie coverage with the #cdnrally hashtag for a second entry. Simple!