2011-06-06
Yokohama teams triumph at muddy, snowy Rocky rally
CALGARY (May 28, 2011) – A pair of Yokohama team mates triumphed over what veteran rally observers called the most difficult conditions in a decade to score a one-two finish at the dramatic Rocky Mountain Rally here.
Reigning Canadian, North American and Rally America rally champions Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard edged ahead of team mates and series rivals Pat Richard and co-driver Leanne Junnila in the final three stages of the snowy, muddy, weather-shortened second round of the Canadian Rally Championship to post a slim 5.3-second victory.
A changing mix of heavy snow, gravel and mud put a premium on tire performance. Both L’Estage/Richard and Richard/Junnila relied on Yokohama A031 competition tires to cope with the treacherous conditions.
Pat Richard’s Subaru WRX STi led for most of the event, which was delayed by a major snowfall that kept event workers from making to the stage roads in Kananaskis Country. When the rally finally began, the Squamish, B.C.-based Subaru Rally Team Canada jumped into the lead from the first competitive stage over roads that were alternately snow-covered and muddy, and headed L’Estage’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X by nine seconds by the first service halt.
Battling back with one stage to go, L’Estage, of St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Nathalie Richard, of Halifax, pulled ahead of Pat Richard (Squamish, B.C.) and Junnila (Calgary) by a mere 1.7 seconds. The final stage was an epic Mitsubishi/Subaru battle, with L’Estage taking the win by the smallest margin in a Canadian event in recent memory.
Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and Martin Brady (Ireland) finished third in a Subaru.
With wins in the first two series rounds, the L’Estage/Richard duo sits atop the Canadian Rally Championship standings. Richard/Junnila are second.
The six-event 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 centers across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers and more than 2,000 retail locations.
CALGARY (May 28, 2011) – A pair of Yokohama team mates triumphed over what veteran rally observers called the most difficult conditions in a decade to score a one-two finish at the dramatic Rocky Mountain Rally here.
Reigning Canadian, North American and Rally America rally champions Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard edged ahead of team mates and series rivals Pat Richard and co-driver Leanne Junnila in the final three stages of the snowy, muddy, weather-shortened second round of the Canadian Rally Championship to post a slim 5.3-second victory.
A changing mix of heavy snow, gravel and mud put a premium on tire performance. Both L’Estage/Richard and Richard/Junnila relied on Yokohama A031 competition tires to cope with the treacherous conditions.
Pat Richard’s Subaru WRX STi led for most of the event, which was delayed by a major snowfall that kept event workers from making to the stage roads in Kananaskis Country. When the rally finally began, the Squamish, B.C.-based Subaru Rally Team Canada jumped into the lead from the first competitive stage over roads that were alternately snow-covered and muddy, and headed L’Estage’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X by nine seconds by the first service halt.
Battling back with one stage to go, L’Estage, of St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Nathalie Richard, of Halifax, pulled ahead of Pat Richard (Squamish, B.C.) and Junnila (Calgary) by a mere 1.7 seconds. The final stage was an epic Mitsubishi/Subaru battle, with L’Estage taking the win by the smallest margin in a Canadian event in recent memory.
Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and Martin Brady (Ireland) finished third in a Subaru.
With wins in the first two series rounds, the L’Estage/Richard duo sits atop the Canadian Rally Championship standings. Richard/Junnila are second.
The six-event 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 centers across Canada to serve more than 700 independent tire dealers and more than 2,000 retail locations.