By: Subaru Canada Inc
February 9 2017
Subaru Rally Team Canada's Antoine L'Estage re-unites with co-driver Alan Ockwell
Mississauga, Ontario - Subaru Canada, Inc. (SCI) is pleased to announce strong overall results at the Rallye Perce-Neige in Maniwaki, Quebec. As the American Rally Association and Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) ran their inaugural races side-by-side for the first time, a total of nine Subaru vehicles crossed the finish line in the top ten. Leading the pack were Subaru Rally Team USA (SRTUSA) teams David Higgins with co-driver Craig Drew and Travis Pastrana with co-driver Robbie Durant, finishing first and second, respectively. The top Canadian finisher was "Crazy" Leo Urlichich, who along with co-driver Alex Kihurani powered to a third place finish overall in his 2007 STI.
Subaru Rally Team Canada (SRTC) driver Antoine L'Estage and newly re-united co-driver Alan Ockwell had a strong start, winning four stages outright and finishing near the front of the pack in several others. However, the team ran into some difficulties, and were eventually sidelined deep in the forest stages of the final leg.
"Preparation before the Rally went really well. Me and Alan felt at home right away," said L'Estage. "Unfortunately we met some problems and were given some penalties. We kept going hard and gained some ground. We could have won but had to stop because of a terminal failure. This is not the way we wanted to start the season. We will bounce back and are confident that Rocket Rally and Subaru Canada will be back stronger; we will have a good rest of the season.''
With the 2017 season just underway, there are still many opportunities to make up ground, and the team is already looking ahead to the next race. They will have plenty of time to prepare, as the next event is the Rocky Mountain Rally in Invermere, BC May 26-28.
Pos | Time | Vehicle | Class | Driver/Co-driver |
1 | 2:19:09.1 | Subaru WRX STI 17 | 4wheel Open | David Higgins - Colchester VT |
2 | 2:22:56.6 | Subaru WRX STI 17 | 4wheel Open | Travis Pastrana - Colchester VT |
3 | 2:30:39.6 | Subaru STI 07 | 4wheel Prod | Leonid Urlichich - Thornhill ON |
4 | 2:36:40.3 | Subaru Impreza 08 | 4wheel Open | William Bacon - Tyngsboro MA |
5 | 2:38:44.7 | Subaru Impreza 01 | 4wheel Open | Sylvain Erickson - Val-des-Monts QC |
6 | 2:41:42.8 | Subaru WRX STI 10 | 4wheel Open | Steeve Hobbs - St-Gédéon QC |
7 | 2:42:19.4 | Subaru Impreza 04 | 4wheel Open | Jeremy Norris - Kitchener ON |
8 | 2:43:54.5 | Subaru Impreza 94 | 4wheel Open | Simon Vincent - Terrebonne QC |
9 | 2:47:15.0 | Mitsubishi EVO X 09 | 4wheel Open | Boris Djordjevic - Devon AB |
10 | 2:48:34.8 | Subaru WRX STI 02 | 4wheel Open | Adam Vokes - Edmonton AB |
About Subaru Canada, Inc.
Subaru Canada, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of 92 authorized dealers across Canada. For more information, please visit www.subaru.ca or www.pr.subaru.ca or follow @SubaruCanada on Twitter.