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Heading into the final stages, Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard held a commanding lead. They had started the day by taking the lead, and had build a greater and greater margin heading into the second half of the day.

“It can be difficult to keep your concentration on those long night stages,” said L’Estage.

Difficult or not, L’Estage and Richard showed why the trophy shelves at home are built so strongly, winning the rally. It is L’Estage’s fifth win at Perce Neige, and Richard’s 100^th career start.

“It’s great to win here, and everything just works,” said Richard. “It’s also nice to have lots of snow on the roads, unlike last weekend at Sno*Drift [in Michigan].”

However, the teams behind were not always so composed.

Crazy Leo Urlichich and Carl Williamson were clawing their way back up the order after taking penalties and throwing the car into a telephone pole – an accident that caused no injury and no mechancial damage to the car aside from mangled bodyowrk – and looked as if they might catch third place Sylvain and Simon Vincent. In fact, they did make up the time, and finished second after a rival lost concentration, with unfortunate consequences.

“It’s incredible. After everything we’ve gone through today, to have such a good finish is amazing,” said Urlichich, who finished second. “We all made mistakes, but we tried so hard and it has paid off.

Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal, who typically have good form and speed on ice and snow, rolled their car in the final stages, eventually getting back on the wheels and continuing, but not before dropping a lot of time and six positions, finishing eighth.

Meanwhile, the Vincent father-son team stuck to a strategy that shows why father Sylvain is aiming for a top ten ranking in lifetime driver standings.

“You have to be careful, like I said thins morning,” said Sylvain. “I thought we would get top five, but third is much better and gives really good points for my goal for the lifetime standings.”

Further down the order, Peter Kocandrle and Angela Cosner finished as the top two wheel drive car, 40 minutes back from the leaders, but 40 minutes up on their closest rival.

“Everything was great until the last four stages,” said Kocandrle. “We had a flat and had to change it, then we caught another car, and the spun in front of us and then backed into us, breaking one of our lights.”

Nevertheless, Kocandrle, who has support from Open Road Motorsports for the season, is thrilled by the result, and is looking forward to a busy 2012.

“I’m hoping to do all four Eastern Canadian nationals and maybe two US events, and try to go for the North American championship.”

Warren Haywood and John Hall wrapped up the Production GT class, the only non-Open class car in the top ten, finishing ninth overall.

Simon Losier, who was not in his usual car, was nevertheless smooth enough to get he and co-driver Brian Maxwell into a fifth place finish, just ahead of Joel Levac and Stephanie Lewis, in sixth.

So many teams reported triangles, and cars off the road, fans were wondering who was going to make it to the finish. The Rallye Perce Neige is always demanding and even finishing is an achievement.

“The Tortue stage is the biggest challenge in Canada. To finish it is an achievement,” said Clerk of the Course, Sylvain Erickson. “To see the speeds everyone was going was incredible. It was a great rally and great conditions.”

The Canadian Rally Championship next goes to Alberta, for the Rocky Mountain Rally in late May. Rocky has wildly unpredictable weather, and in the past four years, we’ve seen everything from bright hot sunny days to cold slush and snow to mud. Be sure to join us!

“It’s been good so far,” said Antoine coming into service after nine stages. “We had a couple of spins this morning, but mostly it has been good, the new car is great.”

For Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of Subaru Rally Team Canada, it’s been a harder day. On the second stage, hard landing after a jump damaged the intercooler, causing a boost leak. Not long after, the team lost a front brake line. The team hope they had it fixed heading out from the midday service, but returned on a tow strap, behind sweep.

“We were near the end of the second pass on Blue Sea, and the car just wasn’t working right. We couldn’t get power to the ground,” said Richard. “It’s a tough start to the season, but we were on pace despite having problems this morning, so I’m actually pretty happy how things went up until the end.”

Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy got stuck in a snowbank, and despite being fifth on the road, had to watch nearly the whole field drive by without any help.

“Steeve Hobbs stopped and tried twice, but he had to get going,” said Henderson, clearly frustrated. “We weren’t off that far, but no one would stop. We ended up max late.”

Leo Urlichich is perhaps earning his “Crazy” moniker back after a high speed spin that ended with the car hitting a telephone pole while moving backwards. Amazingly, despite all of the cosmetic damage, the structure and safety of the car was ruled to be acceptable and the team was allowed to continue. However, time lost with a few spins, combined with six minutes in penalties for early check in have dropped Leo and co-driver Carl Williamson back to ninth.

The troubles at the front of the pack have made for an interesting top five. Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal are second, in a great spot for the championship. They’re followed by Sylvain and Simon Vincent. Waiting to start the first pass of the Farley stage, Sylvain offered up his strategy.

“You have to pace yourself. If you go too hard at the start, you will be too tired. It’s almost 250km of stages, so you need to stay sharp. It’s a long day.”

Joel Levac and Stephanie Lewis, who finished fourth at Sno*Drift last weekend, are on pace to perhaps do the same here, sitting in fourth, with a small margin over fifth place Mathieu Dube and Eric Losier.

Peter Kochandrle and Angela Cosner are leading two wheel drive, with a margin of nearly six minutes over Thierry Menegoz and Guillaume Bechard. Kochandrle is in 15^th overall.

Teams are presently out running one of the longest legs of the rally, including the infamous Tortue stage. With no remote service this year, any problems that happen out on those stages could force a DNF if a team can’t manage the long transit back to town.

Check back again for more news from the 2012 Rallye Perce Neige, in Maniwaki, Quebec.

“I think it’s perfect to be first on the road, it’ll be less polished,” said Urlichich after the start order draw. “I have to be smooth, and not too wild. Drive smart like at Sno*Drift last weekend.”

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell will be second on the road, followed by main rivals Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard.

“I think Pat has the perfect road position,” said L’Estage. “Sometimes you get too far back [in the order] and you can get pulled into the icy tracks. It’s not easy.”

Bruno Carre and Yvan Joyal will run fourth on the road, followed by Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy.

Any one of these teams can challenge for the podium, and they aren’t the only ones. Ugo Desgreniers has finished on the podium here before, and Steeve Hobbs is also capable of a top three finish.

Also on hand to mix things up is Max Riddle, back after a heavy roll at the final rally of 2011. He’s excited for a good finish here, and has done well at the snowy Big White regional rally in Kelowna, BC.

Keith Townsend and Jen Horsey have reunited after running Targa Newfoundland together, and will be running in Leo’s back up car. While it’s been a while since the two have run a Canadian Rally Championship event, they could surprise a lot of people with a smooth and mature drive.

Two wheel drive also has an interesting field. Thierry Menegoz has entered, in his easily recognized Ford Fiesta, and Peter Kochandrle will be eyeing a two wheel drive win in his Group 2 VW Golf. You can also expect a strong performance from Martin Walter in his rear wheel drive Nissan 240SX.

With light snow falling, and expected to continue through the night, tomorrow’s stages will be coated with a light dusting of snow, though what is underneath varies from stage to stage. Some of the in town stages have decent grip, while the stages held deeper in the forest, to the west of Maniwaki are icy in spots, and deep snow in others. Tire strategy will be key, and changes to the schedule – no remote service and a new final stage run in town – will also mean drivers accustomed to how things have run in the past will need to be careful to rethink service and tire strategies.

As per Canadian Rally Championship rules, no studs are allowed, meaning cars can get sideways, and drivers will use snowbanks to stay on the road. One wrong move, and the snowbanks that could help can pull you right off the road, often forcing a team to retire from the rally.

Rallye Perce Neige starts first thing tomorrow morning, and as usual, we’ll be brining the news back to you at home.

Television review of the 2011 Canadian Rally Championship season.