RDS (French) – December 13th 19:00
TSN (English) – December 19th at Noon (Check local listings to confirm)

To tide you over until then, check out this awesome bumper cam shot of ACP blitzing SS01 Upper Old Hastings at last weekend’s Rally of the Tall Pines! Thanks TV2GO!

After a day long battle, Pat Richard
and Alan Ockwell of Subaru Rally Team Canada fought back following
transmission problems to win the 2009 Rally of the Tall Pines and
repeat as Canadian Rally Champions.

Before the final service, Richard had
problems that nearly cost him the rally.

“The gearbox stuck in fifth, and Alan
was running back to put out the triangle,” said Richard. “Then it
came unstuck and we could continue, but without fifth or sixth.”

The crew swapped in a standard synchro
gearbox, and the team left for the last four stages of the rally more
than a minute behind Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard.

“It’s a fantastic way to finish the
season,” said Pat Richard. “We were pushing hard and might have
caught Antoine, but we’ll never know.”

For L’Estage and Nathalie Richard, the
rally would be heartbreaking. The pair entered the final four stages
in the lead when partway through the second of the four stages,
L’Estage encountered a problem with the clutch.

“It was rock hard, there was no way
to work it,” said L’Estage. “It wasn’t a big deal on the stage
because we have a dogbox, but the transits and controls were almost
impossible.”

The transits would prove so impossible that L’Estage and Richard
were stranded on the start of the final stage, unable to get the
starter motor to pull the car into motion. The team lost significant
amounts of time, and finished the rally in fifth place after fighting
to make up time on the final Egan Creek stage.

The finish also meant that L’Estage
would be unable to retain his North American Rally Cup title, though
Nathalie had locked up that title at the Pacific Forest Rally.

“We get nothing,” said L’Estage.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey
pushed hard all day in their NOS Mitsubishi EVO X, and were rewarded
with a second place finish, enough to earn Comrie-Picard the North
American Rally Cup driver’s title.

“You know, we’re pushing really
hard,” said Comrie-Picard. “The handling is great, but we just
don’t have the power, and the car is a bit heavy. It’s been an
absolutely great day!”

Frank and Dan Sprongl were brought on
as hired guns for Subaru Rally Team Canada to help secure the
Canadian Rally Manufacturer’s Championship for the marque, and
finished third.

“We got a little bit quicker over the
last few stages,” said Frank. “Dan got up to speed really
quickly, and it was great because this is the first time we’ve been
in a car together since 2006.”

The top two wheel drive car was the VW
TDI Golf of Michael Hordijk and Jessie Amend, up from the U.S. The
pair have rallied in the states before, but made Tall Pines their
first Canadian rally together.

“I really like the roads, and
co-drove here once a few years ago,” said Hordijk. “We figured it
was time to give it a try.”

Martin Walter and Ferdinand
Trauttmansdorf were the top Canadian 2wd entry in their Nissan 240
SX.

We really had a tough time with some of
the rough stuff,” said Walter. “We had to reattach the guard over
our fuel tank, after it started to work loose.”

Jan and Jody Zedril pushed their
Mitsubishi Lancer hard in the two wheel drive class, almost past the
brink.

“It’s been a tough rally,” said
Jan. “We’ve just started to run out of luck with the car. The
suspension is shot and we had some electrical problem that killed all
power out on stage.”

The pair had been driving hard through
the morning, but lost significant time to their problems.

Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brandt had
put on a show here in 2008, were slower this year, largely owing to
the conditions.

“This car is all about momentum,”
said Brandt, pointing to the Suzuki Swift. “These conditions are
just so tough, and the car just bogs down in the soft stuff, there’s
nothing we can do.”

Chris Martin and Phil Narini were
hoping to seal up an Ontario Performance Rally Championship. Nagging
boost issues all day, and a tough time fighting the muddy ruts on
stage made it hard going for the team.

“We really got kicked around by this
event,” said Narini. “We just kept going though, and we’ve locked
up the title.”

Nick and Kelly Mathew had come to Pines
hoping to secure their Ontario Championship, but problems all day
eventually caused the team to park the car and retire.

“The car just kept overheating and
then cooling down,” said Nick. “We got through Middle Hastings,
but then the car just didn’t seem to want to make it. We managed to
start South Hastings, but it started to overheat again so we found a
driveway and parked it.”

]]> http://flatovercrest.com/2009/11/richard-and-ockwell-win-pines-crowned-champions/feed/ 1 http://flatovercrest.com/2009/11/richard-and-lestage-dogfight-at-pines/ http://flatovercrest.com/2009/11/richard-and-lestage-dogfight-at-pines/#comments Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:43:58 +0000 Dean http://flatovercrest.com/?p=8

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of Subaru
Rally Team Canada held a two second lead after the second service at
the 2009 Rally of the Tall Pines in Bancroft, Ontario.

Richard is also in a fight for the
overall 2009 Canadian Rally Championship, and needs a win to secure
his best chance at earning another title. After a roll in testing
last night, Richard admitted that he wasn't totally on pace this
morning.

“I was a little rattled after last
night, but we're getting back into it,” said Richard during the
second service on Saturday. “The Peanut stage was really rough and
muddy, but at least right now you can still stop and turn.”

Richard is in a battle with Antoine
L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in their Rockstar Mitsubishi EVO X. For
L'Estage to earn the Canadian Rally Championship, the team needs to
finish in second place, even if Richard wins.

“We're two seconds behind Pat right
now,” said L'Estage. “We're 24 seconds ahead of ACP, and trading
times with Pat, so everything is good.”

L'Estage has shown discipline in the
past to drive smart with the Championship in mind, but he's got more
to contend with at Tall Pines. Frank and Dan Sprongl are driving a
second factory Subaru car, with the aim to help secure the
manufacturers title for Subaru.

“I do have a leash on,” said Frank.
“The goal is to capture the manufacturers title, not to win.”

Nevertheless, a second place finish by
Sprongl and a win by Richard will hand the Canadian Rally
Championship to Richard and Ockwell, for a second consecutive
national title. Sprongl is fourth, about a minute adrift of the
leaders.

“We can gain and build a little more
speed, but it's been about two years since I have driven on gravel,”
said Sprongl.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jeremy Wimpey
suffered problems over the first two stages.

“We broke a wheel on the first stage,
and then had a flat on the second stage,” said Comrie-Picard.
“We're really driving at the limit, our margin is almost
non-existent. We're just trying to get everythign out of the car.”

“Check!” said Wimpey.

Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy retired after Henderson became sick, similar to what happened last year.

“At the end of the Peanut, I started
to feel sick just like last year,” said Henderson.

Maxime Losier has shown surprising
speed early in the day.

“I came here to learn to be more
technical, so maybe it's working out more quickly than I thought,”
said Losier, whose brother Simon is typically the faster driver.

The Zedrils are proving to be extremely
fast, walking away with Gr2, though neither of them feel like it.

“We're not on the pace,” said Jody
Zedril. “Not sure what's up, but we're just not in it. These roads
are really different than the faster more open roads on the rally, so
maybe we just need to adjust more.”

Usual rivals Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy
Brandt are trying to stay clean.

“I really got a sense of how much
work it was to repair the car after Defi,” said Kocandrle. “We're
still taking really aggressive lines, but we're not going into them
100%.”

Leo Urlichich continued to have
problems, dropping down the order after engine management problems
cut power.

Chris Martin and Phil Narini are in a
tight battle with Nick and Kelly Mathew for the Ontario Performance
Rally Championship. Whichever team wins the event will also win the
title, and both teams have suffered problems so far.

“We got stuck in a rut on the
Peanut,” said Martin, whose car was missing a driver's side window
and mirror, netting up instead. “We also had a flat, and lost boost
on the first stage.

“We cut a coolant hose on the first
stage and it actually caught fire, but we were able to get everything
repaired,” said Mathew.

The two are about 45 seconds apart,
with the Mathew's eager to make up time.

Targa veterans Roy Hopkins and Adrianne
Hughes decided to try their hands at a gravel event, opting for a VW
Golf rather than their BMW.

“We're doing a great job with the
notes,” said Hopkins. “There's deep mud, but we just need to keep
the car moving.”

There's another 150kms of stages to go,
with plenty of action ahead.

Photos by Dean Campbell

“We haven't seen conditions like this
in 20 years,” said Clerk of the Course, Ross Wood.

Mud on the stages slowed recce today,
and all crews reported that conditions were slippery.

“The guys will be up late cutting
tires tonight,” said Frank Sprongl, who along with his brother Dan
will be running a second car for the Subaru Rally Team Canada. The
Sprongls ran recce on Yokohama mud tires, which Frank said filled up
with mud very quickly, causing the car to slide over the top of the
road.

Teams had a chance to try the mud at
full rally pace during shakedown runs, when one crew fell victim to
the muddy conditions.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell had a soft
roll when slippery conditions bested the defending Canadian Rally
Champions.

“The car had just cosmetic damage,
nothing major at all,” said Ockwell.

Obviously frustrated with the off,
Richard explained that conditions were far more slippery than
anticipated. The Rocket Rally Subaru Rally Team Canada crew
immediately dove into action to repair the damage to the car and have
it ready for the morning.

Richard and Ockwell will need to go full tilt
tomorrow to hold off Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in the driver's championship.
L'Estage will win the title by finishing second tomorrow, even if
Richard wins the event. 

“We are ready to fight for the win,
and the car is perfect, ready to go,” said L'Estage.

Leo Urlichich and Martin Headland also had problems when their turbo caught fire. The flames were quickly extinguished, and the car was repaired. 

Stages start just after 9:00 am, when
51 cars will head out into the forest stages outside of Bancroft,
Ontario.