Predictions from the top of the order
on Friday at the Rallye Defi all sang the same refrain – whoever
could lead the event out of the stages on Saturday morning would be
the winner. These words soon proved prophetic, as Antoine L'Estage
and Nathalie Richard took the lead by midday on Saturday and went on
to win the 2009 Rallye Defi.

“We're very happy, the car was
perfect the entire rally, and we now have the lead in the
championship,” said L'Estage.

L'Estage and Richard have been
campaigning the Mitsubishi Rockstar Energy Drink Concerto EVO X since
the start of 2009, but as with any car in development, the Evolution
suffered teething problems. With the rough roads of Defi behind them,
it appears that the troubles may be in the past.

“The car is exactly where we want it
now, which is perfect. We're stoked about the future, and also to
have tied the record for most wins at Defi,” said L'Estage of a
record he now jointly holds with John Buffum.

The rally would end early for
L'Estage's closest competition, Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of the
Subaru Rally Team Canada.

“Near the end of one stage, we got
some air over a rock section and the transmission jammed in fifth
gear,” said Richard. “We could barely get going again, and after
a hairpin, the clutch gave out. We just couldn't get the car going up
the hill in fifth.”

For Richard, the retirement means he
drops into second place in the points standings, 11 points behind
L'Estage.

“We broke the record on Mulgrave by
15 seconds,” said Ockwell, indicating the pace the two had run up
to the failure.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Robbie Durant
also suffered mechanical problems, putting them out of the event.

“We clipped something on stage nine,”
said Durant. “We think maybe a rock got pulled into the front wheel
well and rattled around inside. It seems to have broken the line to
the oil cooler. We tried to make repairs at the side of the road, but
couldn't keep going without risking blowing the engine.”

With Richard and Comrie-Picard both
out, Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy moved into second place. The
pair were driving Sylvain Erickson's Subaru STI for the event. A few
big impacts on the rough morning stages broke a wheel and bent a
lateral link, but were not enough to stop Henderson.

“We were trying very hard to learn
the car,” said Henderson. “It's very different than my usual car,
with more power and anti-lag as well, so you have to drive
differently.”

Third place was the surprise of the
event. Jean Sebastien Besner appeared to have third locked up until
he blew a turbo late Saturday. His retirement handed the final podium
position to newcomer Steeve Hobbs and Jean-Mathieu Tremblay, who were
running just their second national event.

“We started the rally in 29^th
place, and we've finished third,” said Hobbs. “It's amazing!”

"Crazy" Leo Urlichich and Martin Headland suffered problems early Saturday, causing the rear brakes to catch fire. The two were able to continue, but lost a lot of time. Once repairs were made, they climbed back up the order, eventually finishing fourth.

Simon Losier also had a great deal of trouble through the day.

"I've never broken so much stuff in a rally but still be able to fix it and keep going," grinned Losier. "We broke two front shocks, brake lines. It's amazing."

On the top step of the regional podium
was Martin Donnelly and Dave Shindle.

“After ten years of running rallies,
I have finally won a regional event,” said Donnelly. Despite
numerous podium finishes, a top result had until now eluded the Irish
driver. “All we were looking for was a top ten finish, so this is
amazing!”

Second in the regional was Nick Mathew
and Keith Morrison. Trouble had dogged the team all day, with
throttle issues, and brake issues and a loss of power on Saturday.

“We needed this to stay in it for the
Ontario championship,” said Mathew. “We had so many problems,
that we were able to podium is fantastic. Amazing work by the Planet
Motorsport crew to keep us in it all the way to the end.”

Third place went to the rear wheel
drive Mazda RX-7 of Neil and Lorna Wright. Recent transplants from
Calgary, the pair were able to keep the Mazda reliable despite the
rough conditions.

“We blew a strut but we were able to
finish on a mix of Hot Bits and Koni suspension,” said Neil Wright.
“Six years of running this car, and never has a Mazda suspension
component failed, only aftermarket parts.”

“This also lets us clinch the
Production Sport National Championship,” said Wright. “Now I can
build this into the Group2 car it should be, with that title under
it!”

The Zedrils were the fastest two wheel
drive car overall, pulling away from their competition through the
entire event.

“It was tough. We had to be really
careful not to make mistakes and get a puncture, because the
competition was really tight, we couldn't risk them catching us,”
said Jody Zedril. “Still, you can't go too slow either.”

The competition mentioned came from
Eric Grochowski and Leanne Junnila in their VW Golf, and Peter
Kocandrle and Jimmy Brandt in a Suzuki Swift.

“We were struggling to find our pace
at the start,” said Grochowski. He and Junnila haven't run an event
since the Rocky Mountain Rally in May, where they tore a rear corner
off the car. “We were starting to get back into the groove, but
really, we wanted to break our Defi curse of not finishing.”

The two wrapped up the event third in
Gr2, placing 16^th overall.

For Kocandrle, the event tested the
endurance of the car and the creativity of the crew.

“The car just took a beating, and I
broke the suspension in ways that we've never seen before,” said
Kocandrle. “It was a real lesson in bringing spares, because if we
hadn't, we never would have finished.”

Though known for fast, at the limit
driving, Kocandrle kept his pace steady and his lines clean to try to
minimize the damage the rough roads would do to the car.

Others would not be so lucky. Twenty cars –
nearly half the entry – were forced out of the event either due to
a crash or mechanical problems.

Subaru Rally Team Canada's Pat Richard
and Alan Ockwell have opened a small lead Friday at the Rallye Defi.
Competitors ran five short stages to set the tone for the bulk of the
rally tomorrow.

“We've won every stage so far, except
one, which we tied,” said Richard after four stages. The two would
go on to win the final stage of the night, with a total lead of four
seconds over Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard.

“Second on road is perfect for us
tomorrow,” said L'Estage.

Unlike previous versions of the Rallye
Defi, the longest stages are run on Saturday morning this year, with
little to no opportunity to make up time in the afternoon. Pat
Richard will be forced to clean the road for the cars behind,
potentially giving an advantage to L'Estage.

Both drivers agreed that the shorter
stage mileage this year means that drivers will have to alter their
pace.

“You cannot waste any time hoping to
catch up later, there just won't be time,” said L'Estage.

“I think if you're 10 seconds down
after the long stages tomorrow, it'll be nearly impossible to make
that up,” said Richard.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Robbie Durant
are in third place, 17 seconds back from Richard and Ockwell, but a
comfortable eight seconds up on the fourth place pairing of Craig
Henderson and Lyne Murphy, who are driving Sylvain Erickson's higher-spec Subaru for added pace.

Jan and Jody Zedril sit in 21^st
overall, but are the fastest two wheel drive car in their Mitsubishi
Lancer. Second in two wheel drive is Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant,
24 second back from the Zedrils.

“We're pretty happy with where we
are, given how fast the roads are,” said Kocandrle who is driving a
Suzuki Swift.

Third in two wheel drive are Eric
Grochowski and Leanne Junnila in their Gr2 VW Golf.

“Our last event was at Rocky, and we
haven't run the car since,” said Junnila. “We are having a hard
time getting back into the groove. These short stages make finding a
rhythm difficult.”

The pair are hoping for a strong finish
here to push them back into the lead in two wheel drive, ahead of the
Zedrils.

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino entered the Rallye Defi with an unusual car – a Ford Escort MkII. The car was meticulously prepared for Block and was to get it's first rally here.

Unfortunately, the pair ended
their event early when their Escort locked a wheel, sending
them into a ditch. Damage to the car initially appeared minor, but
the two were unable to restart the car on the stage.

After repairs in service, the two were
allowed to run the final three stages before being excluded from the
event. Unfortunately, damage was more severe than originally
expected, and the team returned from the transit, unable to continue.

“When the car loaded up heading
around a tarmac corner on the first stage, one of the wheels locked
up after compressing up against the body,” said Block. “The car
darted off to the left and into the ditch. We got it back out, but
we'd broken a ground to the fuel pump, so we couldn't get it
restarted.”

“The crew got the ground fixed in
service, but we'd also shifted the transmission crossmember, which
pulled the tranny back about an eighth of an inch, and we'd broken a
bolt in the suspension. When we left to transit out to the next
stages, the handling was all over the place, and the shifting wasn't
good, so we decided to park it.”

For Block, this is his third
consecutive DNF at a Canadian rally.

Tomorrow morning, the rally relocates
to Montpellier, with teams taking on the longest stages in the
morning. Standings after the long stages could very well stay the
same through the short stages, with so little distance to make up any
time on rivals.

Want a little preview of the rear-wheel drive shenanigans that Ken is bringing to Defi this weekend? Check out this short video of him and Chris Atkinson shaking down the car at Tim O’Neil’s earlier this summer. Press release below.

A new Rally video has DC Co-Founder and Rally Team Member Ken Block having a bit of fun in a vintage rear wheel drive Ford Escort at Team O’Neal’s Rally School in New Hampshire. World Rally Championship driver, Chris Atkinson joined Block for the practice and video that resulted, now live at dcshoes.com/auto.

Block purchased the vintage rear-wheel-drive rally car to practice
and have fun in. Wanting to broaden his rally skills, the
Euro-only-spec 1978 Ford Escort MK2 helps him let loose in a few
non-Rally America Championship events. Don’t let the vintage shell fool
you—under the hood sits a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder Millington engine
that boasts 280 BHP. Couple that with a WRC-styled paddle shifting, six
speed sequential gearbox and you have one fast vintage rally car.
 
Block took the car to Team O’Neil’s Rally School in July 2009 to put the vintage rally car through it’s paces, and Former Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson joined Block to break it in. Neither Block nor Atkinson have much experience in RWD cars, so the rally session and video is a good look at the two of them to flip flopping between the driver and passenger seats.
 
Block will enter select races each year with this car, including Rally Defi in Canada this coming weekend, September 11-12. Block returns to serious Rally America National Championship competition—in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI—at Rally Colorado, September 19-20.