As fans checked in and began asking questions, Leo did his best to answer, taking time to address as many fans as possible. From how he got started in rallying, to what colour he should paint his rallycar, known as the Beast – Lime Green and Orange are leading the way – Crazy Leo also wanted to tell people about his plans for this year.

“Before talking about a new co-driver, I have to say which events we are going to do next. Next one is Rally Tennessee and Rocky Mountain Rally after that,” said Leo, going on to add that “almost likely will to the STPR and Maine, can’t wait for those!!”

Hoping to draw out the tension even further, Leo teased that he was gaining the attention not just of local cops – his ongoing twitter joke – but of those from across the pond as well.

For Rally Tennessee, Leo’s first foray into tarmac rallying, he’ll be co-driven by Karen Alexander Jankowski (nee Wagner) of California. The two will test together before the rally, and Karen has the advantage of having co-driven at Targa Newfoundland, so hopes to bring her tarmac experience to bear in Tennessee, where she won last year.

“Every driver is so different….the good news is I already know Leo and the rally,” said Jankowski. “Leo and I will tackle Rally Tennesee first and then decide from there.”

But that wasn’t all, as Leo also plans to try competing with Irish co-driver Martin Brady, a veteran of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution championship, and a veteran of the Dublin police force.

“I look forward to a test with Leo first and let’s see if he can understand the Irish accent first and then we can plan many more miles,” said Brady, who signed on well after midnight from home to take part in the chat. “I would love to tackle the CRC events as Canada is one place I have never been. I watch over and over the TSN coverage on my iPad and I love the look of the rallies, especially (Perce Neige)”

Brady even offered to call notes in Russian if that would help Leo.

“I called notes in Norwegian and I wrote V on my left hand for Venstre and H on my right hand for Haireh and that kept me focused and it worked ok.”

So what’s next for Leo? f you have questions, Leo is still taking them. Head on over to his website to find out more or read through the chat if you weren’t able to join.

“Things are going well, we’re pushing hard, and Pat is driving well,” said L’Estage as he waited to enter the second service of the day. “There are a few little things about how the car handles under hard braking, maybe it’s just the surface, but it’s not perfect.”

Difficulties aside, after four stages, L’Estage had built a 26 second lead over Richard, but the drama was set to unfold in the service park.

Richard split a wheel  five km from the end of the fourth stage of the day, destroying both the tire and brake caliper. Driving out also damaged the steering rack, though the issue wasn’t discovered until midway through service. The team was forced to replace the part and checked out of service 14 minutes late, incurring 2:20 in penalties.

Martin Rowe also suffered problems, with a flat resulting in a bent shock and gearbox problems forcing the service crew to do a transmission swap in a short service. Unfortunately, Rowe was also late leaving service, taking penalties as well.

For L’Estage, who knows about the issues Richard and Rowe are having, the rally must now be about driving with a mix of speed and caution. Last year, both Richard and L’Estage were facing the same circumstances, but a late issue for L’Estage resulted in a dramatic finish where Richard won the event and the Canadian Championship.

Crazy Leo suffered a spin on the second stage, his engine catching fire. The crew are both ok, but their rally is over.

Secodn place is still unknown as Bruno Carre fights brake problems while also fighting off Swap Shop teammate Craig Henderson.

Peter Thomson also had brake issues that cost him time over SS3 and 4, dropping him out of the top 10. For westerner Hardy Schmidtke, the goal is to make this a “third time lucky” scenario after failing to finish the first two attempts at this event. He’ll have to watch for a hard charging Simon Losier, who has been fast, aside from time lost to help Leo. Losier is expecting to be given that time back in a decision by the organisers.

Simon Dube is leading the 2WD field, though misses the chance for a good battle with other top 2WD drivers who are absent from the event.

“The roads are beautiful, and not so rough,” said Dube, who is here for “fun and experience.”

Peter Kocandrle, who has typically been one of the drivers to fight Dube in 2WD, is competing in an Open class VW, and has been careful about his pace in the event so far.

“We took it easy in the first few stages to get used to the car and each other,” said Kocandrle, who is being co-driven by Alex Kihurani. “For me, the rally has just started.”

The final event of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship, L’Estage also comes in the points leader, but with a slim two point margin. If he can secure the Canadian title, he will be the second driver ever to achieve the triple crown, after Pat Richard. Nathalie Richard is the only co-driver ever to accomplish the feat and is hoping to earn her second triple crown.

L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard know that any mistake here could cost them not only the event win, but also the title. Last year, mechanical problems did just that, a failure in the clutch system sidelining the team on the final stage, costing the event win, as well as both the Canadian and North American titles. The Rockstar team has gone to great lengths to ensure nothing like that happens again.

“The car is great, very strong really well prepared for the event,” said L’Estage during shakedown. “Still, being first on the road tomorrow can make things difficult depending on conditions. If we have to brush snow off the surface it’s going to make things slow.”

L’Estage’s chief rival all year has been Pat Richard of Subaru Rally Team Canada, who is defending back to back Canadian Rally Championship titles. Richard is second in the points and needs to beat L’Estage to take his third consecutive title.

“The biggest advantage to starting third on the road tomorrow is that Antoine will find the ice for us,” said Richard. “We’re behind Craig and his lines aren’t great for us, so that won’t be a big advantage, but that will all change with the first reseed.”

Richard is free to push a little harder for the driver’s title after bringing on a teammate for Tall Pines. Martin Rowe, 2003 Production WRC Champion, is driving the second Subaru Rally Team Canada car with a clear mandate to bring home the manufacturer’s title.

“Pat and I know each other from our time in the PWRC, and have stayed in touch. He called me a few weeks ago, and asked if I could drive. It’s been a lot to learn, but things are going well. The car has been really well developed by Pat and we did some testing last week,” said Rowe, following shakedown.  “The roads here are so varied, it’s going to be really interesting. Some are fast and flowing like Finland, while others get very technical. Doing notes is a bit of a challenge. It has relit something inside of me to be driving again.”

There’s plenty of other teams to watch during the rally tomorrow. “Crazy” Leo Urlichich is gunning for another podium finish, but before doing that, he took some time to support local charities in Bancroft by auctioning off two rides on the shakedown stage.

Raising $805 for the Bancroft sled dog races, Leo is excited at the prospect of doing more of these sorts of programs in the future. Tall Pines has worked to contribute to the Bancroft area by making donations to local charities and will continue to do so with another announcement made tomorrow.

Recently, Flatovercrest.com reported that Peter Kocandrle would be driving the open class Hotbits VW Golf at Tall Pines. After the shakedown session the young driver was all smiles at how things had gone.

“The car had a few issues, but we’ve gotten them out of the way, and things should go really well tomorrow,” said Robin Fleguel, who helped bring the deal together to back Kocandrle. Fans will recall the diminutive Suzuki Swift that Peter has driven in the past, this time in the hands of Lance Webb, a newcomer to the sport.

As always, tires will play a critical role in how the event plays out. Conditions today were mixed, with plenty of grip in some sections while some were iced over, and even others were soaking wet, or covered in soft dirt. No one is willing to make any call on tires until they see what conditions are like in the morning.

The 40^th edition of the Rally of the Tall Pines starts tomorrow at 9am, kicking off on the Old Hastings stages. It is also a special weekend for the Sweep Crew, who are participating in their 100^th rally, evidence of their massive commitment and dedication to the sport.

We’ll be keeping you updated throughout the day will everything that is going on here in Bancroft from the 2010 Rally of the Tall Pines.

The move to another car is one that Kocandrle has been considering for a while.

“I’ve been toying with getting into an open car, even thought about renting a car to do Pacific Forest Rally,” said Kocandrle in a recent interview. “I don’t want to be someone who stays in two wheel drive so long that I can’t adapt, but I know I still have more to learn too.”

Already, the young driver seems to have cheated an inordinate amount of skill out of the time he has put into competition. A closer look at his background, and one begins to understand just how that skill has developed.

A former ski racer, and now conditioning coach, Kocandrle came to driving with a sense of speed and an eye to keeping grip on a slippery surface. He also had the advantage of a gravel laneway at his home.

“I remember after driving around the laneway, practicing, I’d go and rake the gravel so my dad didn’t know what I’d been up to,” laughs the driver known as “Petey K.”

From there, Kocandrle tried his hand at rallycross, and eventually bought a Suzuki Swift, one of the ten built by Four Star Motorsports at the start of the 1990′s. This car was no coincidence. Kocandrle, having grown up north of Milton, Ontario, had already been working at the Georgetown based rally shop, soaking up whatever he could learn from the owners, Frank and Dan Sprongl – Canadian and North American rally champions many times over.

At his first national event – his third rally ever – and with a new co-driver, Jimmy Brandt, The young driver put the Suzuki firmly into eighth place in a starting field of 43 cars.

“We passed more cars in this one event than I have in the last five or ten years added together,” said Brandt, who hails from Michigan and had been competing in the US prior to joining Kocandrle for the last two seasons.

“Upper Old Hastings was the first stage. During recce I had asked Peter what his goal was for the event. ‘To finish’ he said. This was to prove a masterful understatement… Things got progressively faster and faster throughout the day. I was checking the scores but didn’t share too much with Peter in order not to get him too cocky,” said Brandt of their first event together. “All this from a 1300 cc, non-turbo, with a whopping 76 bhp. Truly amazing.”

Since then, the pair have enjoyed mostly success, though the pace has taken it’s toll on the car. The Swift has been fitted with a dogbox transmission and is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in car preparation. As he drives closer to the limits, Kocandrle has occasionally found them, the results shown in bent panels here and there.

For the 2010 Rally of the Tall Pines, the Swift will get a break, as Kocandrle steps into the Hot Bits VW Golf R32 owned by Peter Reilly. The Golf runs in open class, complete with a turbocharged engine, all wheel drive and big brakes.

The change in car is a one off deal for now, and is the result of a comment Kocandrle made while at Four Star.

“I was at Four Star having lunch, and said I wanted to get into a four wheel drive car and see what I could do.”

Also sitting at the table were Frank and Dan Sprongl. Later in the day, Dan made a call to Peter Reilly, suggesting that the two businesses partner to put Kocandrle into Reilly’s Golf.

“They called me and asked how would I like to drive the Golf for Hot Bits and Four Star at Tall Pines. I said yes. We all know each other, so it was easy,” said Kocandrle, during a test day where he was able to try out the Golf for the first time.

“The car is a big change, it just goes,” said Kocandrle after his first few runs in the VW. “I really have to adapt to the powerband, and the brakes are good, though you really have to get on them. I also have to approach corners differently, staying out really really late.”

During the test day, Kocandrle had a chance to learn from both Reilly and Frank Sprongl. Meanwhile, Flatovercrest.com sat down with Robin Fleguel, Reilly’s business partner, who explained the motivation behind the offer.

“You see guys working on the car and driving and trying to generate support all at the same time. It’s overwhelming. We’re hoping to take over a lot of that so they can focus on rallying.” said Fleguel, who also arranged for Alex Kihurani to co-drive. “These guys are a unique combination of young and experienced. It’ll be great to see what they can do.”

The decision to have Kihurani in the car came out of a desire to have someone with more all wheel drive and open class experience, and Kihurani has it. Also known as Rallybrat, the young American got involved with rally early, hitching rides to events as a teenager before moving into the right seat. Since then, he’s co-driven for Subaru Rally Team USA’s Dave Mirra and 2010 Rally America Rookie of the Year Joseph Burke.

“It’s a one event deal for now,” said Fleguel. “We’re considering continuing next year, and we’ll take a look following Tall Pines. It’s fun, not many people have done this sort of thing before.”

The team is officially looking for a top ten finish, though it’s clear to see that there’s a more ambitious, though unspoken goal.

This may be a new deal, and a new team, but make no mistake, there’s no shortage of experience. What has come together is a great example of the collaborative nature of rallysport. Make sure you come to the Rally of the Tall Pines, and in the mean time, see what Kocandrle has done with his Swift by checking out his You Tube channel.