Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell charged
hard over the final stages of the 2009 Pacific Forest Rally to retain
the lead and earn maximum championship points.

Richard and Ockwell had been leading by
nearly a minute heading into the final service, when technical
problems caused them to check out of service late, and take 50
seconds in penalties, cutting the lead down to three seconds.

Heading into the final stages of the
rally, Richard and Ockwell went flat out and beat the Helmer stage
record and the 13-minute mark on all three passes.

“It's fun to go out and set good
times, that's what it's all about,” said Richard.

For championship rival Antoine
L'Estage, the plan for Pacific Forest Rally took a longer view.

“The plan from the beginning was to
try to think about the championship,” said L'Estage. “It was very
tempting to get into an all out battle on those final stages, but I
had to think about the championship.”

For L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie
Richard, a second place finish at the final event of the season will
be enough to clinch the 2009 title, removing the pressure to win.

Behind these two titans, a battle raged
for third place. Scott Trinder entered the final two stages with a 23
second lead over Simon Losier. Colin Armstrong was also very close,
and a threat to take third overall.

Losier had been making up time on
Trinder, enough that he stood a reasonable chance to take the
position until a flat cost him time on the final stage.

“I think we lost a minute, maybe a
minute and a half,” said Losier. “On the first pass, we had
actually moved into third.”

Colin Armstrong also suffered a flat
tire, but wasn't able to drive it out and lost close to five minutes
stopping to change it.

“It was the front left, so I had to
stop and change it,” said Armstrong. “I couldn't turn the car.”

Trinder would end up claiming third
place, his first national podium, and the highest ranked privateer
Subaru.

“I can't believe how things went,”
said Trinder. “I really thought we weren't going to be on the
podium. I am just totally stoked.”

Losier managed to keep fourth place,
ahead of Mark Jennings-Bates and Jennifer Daly in fifth.

Jan and Jody Zedril finished sixth, the
fastest two wheel drive car in the event.

“We've gotten to a point with the
competition now, that you realize you really have to risk to find
those extra seconds,” said Jan.

The risk paid off, with the pair
securing the Group 2 title.

Graham Bruce and co-driver Ryan
Warrington secured the top novice finish with their eighth place
finish.

Five cars retired from the event. The
first was Gord Olsen, as a result of a damaged shifter cable that
left him with only first, third and fifth gears. Leo Urlichich
retired on the AMR stage when he pushed too hard heading into a
corner and drove off the course, down a hill. Aaron Neumann lost his
transmission and Peter Kadlubowski retired in service after the AMR
stages with brake failure. Mehran Arefi and Dan McLean were forced to
retire late in the rally.

Heading into the final round of the
Canadian Rally Championship, the Rally of the Tall Pines, Richard and
L'Estage will be down to the wire for the title. If Richard wins the
final round, L'Estage can finish no worse than second to earn the
title of 2009 Canadian Rally Champion.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell have lost
almost all of their nearly minute lead at the 2009 Pacific Forest
Rally after taking a penalty leaving service five minutes late.

The crew for the Subaru Rally Team
Canada could not remove a wheel nut on the rear of the car and were
forced to cut the nut off to remove the wheel. The work saw the team
take a 50 second penalty, and dropped their lead from 53 seconds to
just three seconds.

For Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie
Richard, the plan to retain second place and keep an eye on the
championship is now up in the air. The pair could push for a win and
further widen the gap in the points standings.

Two more passes of Helmer special stage
remain, with a distance of nearly 50kms to be contested. Both Richard
and L'Estage will not want to ease off and let the other win, but
neither can fall too far back. The mountain tops have been clouded in
and competitors are reporting that the stage is muddy, making the
largely downhill stage treacherous.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell have taken
the lead at the 2009 Pacific Forest Rally in Merritt, B.C., after
five opening stages.

“We've got one game plan, and that's
to win,” said Richard after the first three stages. “If Antoine
wants to settle for second and let us win, that's ok but we really
want to have a battle.”

Richard and Ockwell need to win here to
retain a chance for the Canadian Rally Championship. After the first
three stages, the pair were leading by 11 seconds.

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard
sit in second at days end, after a problem cost time on the first
stage.

“We had a problem on the first stage,
where the lights weren't working for half the stage,” said
L'Estage. “As for the championship, I don't need to win here, but I
want to keep the pressure on Pat.”

Third place is “Crazy” Leo
Urlichich and Martin Headland. This is Leo's first time at Pacific
Forest Rally, and the pair have had a few troubles adjusting to the
roads.

“I'm not happy with the notes yet,”
said Urlichich. “The hairpin wasn't really well marked, so it was
hard to tell where to turn.”

For Simon Losier, who is trying PFR for
a second time, the 2009 edition has already been kinder to the Quebec
driver.

“Last year I broke the clutch here,”
said Losier, waiting for a second run through the Railyard Mall super
special. “Already it's better than last year, and we're only a
couple of second behind Leo.”

A healthy battle is shaping up in 2wd,
with four teams all in striking distance of a class win.

Gord Olsen, who has won three national
titles, has returned in his Group 2 VW Golf, and after a short
adjustment period is already back on the pace.

“I'm not really watching times right
now,” said Olsen. “I haven't really driven this car since I
parked it, and so I have to remember how to drive it, but it's all
coming back.”

Olsen and the Zedrils shared the 2wd
lead heading into the fourth stage this evening, showing that Olsen
still has “the jam.”

“On the first pass, we struggled a
bit with rhythm,” said Jody Zedril. “With the stages all being
repeats, we picked up speed, probably like everyone.” The Zedrils
are also using GPS tracking at this rally, and fans can follow along
at home by going here.

Eric Grochowski and Leanne Junilla as
well as Zebe Szewczyk and Tomasz Karzynski are also both in the hunt
for 2wd.

“We're working as hard as we can,”
said Grochowski. “We're at a bit of a power disadvantage, and
todays stage was a bit of a hill climb, but tomorrow should be good,
we can really work the momentum.”

Tomorrow, teams will contest more than
130 kms of stage. The high altitude stages were coated with snow, and
will likely be wet and slushy for the teams tomorrow.