NEW RICHMOND, Quebec (July 3, 2010) – A spectacular barrel roll while leading the event with just 8 kilometres to go nearly turned reigning Canadian Rally Champion Pat Richard’s “awesome weekend” into an awful outcome, here in the Rallye Baie des Chaleurs, third round of the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship.But veteran driver Richard and co-driver Alan Ockwell didn’t let a little setback like a high speed roll-over keep them from victory, as the pair – with the help of a handful of spectators – rolled their damaged Subaru Impreza WRX STi back on its wheels and coaxed it to the finish to win their first rally of the season.
Four-time Canadian champion Richard, of Squamish, B.C., and Ockwell, of Toronto, had controlled the two-day event from the first stage, building a comfortable lead in their first outing on Yokohama gravel rally tires. The Subaru Rally Team Canada entry amassed more than a minute lead in the first four stages, expanding the margin to two minutes after five stages in the first day alone.
With a comfortable lead, the team used the opportunity to test engine and tire settings as the rest of the field struggled to keep the pace. “It was an awesome weekend,” says Richard, “right up to 8 kilometres from the end.”
Once back on its wheels, Richard coaxed the shattered car across the finish, belching flames and unable to see through the crushed windscreen. The incident evaporated their lead, and Richard and Ockwell finished less than a minute ahead of the second place Subaru of Leonid Urlichich of Thornhill, Ontario, and Chrissie Beavis of San Diego, California. A third Subaru, driven by series points leader Bruno Carré of Laval, Quebec, and Yvan Joyal of Terrebone, Quebec, claimed the final spot on the podium.
“Despite the ending, it was a fantastic event,” says a philosophical Richard. “The car was flawless and I was really impressed with my first experience on the Yokohama ADVAN A035e gravel rally tires. I have great confidence now.”
Richard’s Yokohama team mate Antoine L’Estage, a former winner of the event, struggled to a sixth place finish. L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard, of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, switched their usual Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X for a Subaru borrowed from Urlichich when their car suffered driveline problems just before the rally. Urlichich, in turn, switched to the highly effective Yokohama tires which helped him to a career-best finish in a championship event.
In addition to its sponsorship of Antoine L’Estage/Nathalie Richard and Pat Richard/Allan Ockwell, Yokohama Canada is a supporting sponsor of the Canadian Rally Championship. The Canadian championship has been televised nationally on TSN and RDS since 1993, and is made available on multiple media platforms, including TSN 2, as downloads from iTunes, on-line on Flat Over Crest (www.flatovercrest.com) and to 80 million homes in Europe on MotorsTV.
Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. markets and distributes a full line of tires for high performance, passenger car, light truck, and commercial truck applications, as well as off-the-road tires for mining, forestry and construction applications. It maintains distribution centres across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers and more than 2,000 retail locations.
