Richard Takes Win in New Car

Heavy rain and fog poured over the Porcupine Hills today as rally crews battled the conditions and each other towards the finish of the rally. Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell took the win today in the brand new 2008 Subaru WRX STI.

"It's a great feeling, the team worked so hard to make this happen. We didn't expect to win, but it's great. We'll take it," smiled Richard. While Richard has won many events, this is the first national win for co-driver Alan Ockwell. The pair were competing in a car that was finished just before the event, and took advantage of their healthy lead to develop the car, making little changes through the day to improve the performance. At the lunchtime service, Richard explained the process. "We've really just been trying to get the car faster. We're making changes to the suspension and the diffs." The pair were also clear on what was most important once the lead had been established. "We're just taking it steady to get a good standing in the championship." With this first place finish, Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell take a strong lead into round three at Rallye Baie des Chaleurs in June.

Gord Olsen had a strong rally despite the tough conditions. The Albertan was using a mud tire to help cut through the slop, a move that was clearly the right choice. "It's super slippery, but we're setting respectable times." Olsen held his pace and finished the event in second place, marking his best ever career finish. Olsen plans to attend Rallye Defi Ste Agathe and Rally of the Tall Pines later this season in a bid for the championship. "I've been talking with Jon [Nichols] and it will be great to compete against him again."

Zebe Szewczyk and Thomas Karzynski drove their two wheel drive Group 5 Mitsubishi Lancer to a career best third place overall, beating many Open class and all wheel drive cars. "It's super, a great feeling. We had super tires, and a great vehicle prepared by Rocket Rally," offered Szewczyk. Last year the Calgary based team finished fifth at the Rocky Mountain Rally.

Fourth place was also a career best for Simon and Maxime Losier in their Mitsubishi EVO VIII. This event is his first in the car on gravel and his first time to the Rocky Mountain Rally. At the midday service Simon voiced his thoughts on the event. "I don't know what to think, so many others know the roads better." Despite the unfamiliarity with the event, the experience Simon has built up in his Honda Civic has seemingly prepared him well for the step to a faster car. Previous to this event, Losier had finished no higher than eighth at a national rally.

Fifth place saw a tightening battle through the day. Mark Jennings-Bates sat in fifth at the start of the day and seemed to thrive in the messy conditions. This was short lived as the rain continued to pour down. By midday, Mark explained, "The Yokohamas are not working as well as we'd like. We really need a mud tire, but these [gravels] will have to do."  With the margin between Mark and the sixth place car of Hardy Schmidtke shrinking with each passing stage, the strategy was clear. "We gotta push, there's nothing else to do," explained Jennings-Bates, "It will be a good battle over the last few stages."

Hardy was equally clear in his plans. "We're pushing as hard as we can. Stuart from Subaru helped us out." With the rain showing no signs of letting up, organizers chose to cancel the last two stages, meaning that Hardy and Mark would have just two stages to try to out perform each other. At the finish, neither knew who had taken the lead, but once the time cards were tabulated, Hardy Schmidtke had proven faster, beating out Jennings-Bates for both fifth place and first novice driver.

Warren Currie, who suffered a difficult season last year finished seventh overall, and was all smiles. "It was awesome, I had a lot of fun, we finished!" exclaimed Currie. The Edmonton resident is looking forward to a complete Western rally series and potentially joining the sports car event at the Edmonton Indy race this summer.

In Group 2, Eric Grochowski took top honours, a minute ahead of Kris Schofield in second place. Colin Armstrong gradually started to have improved fortunes on the stages, but not before a "moment" in front of a TV crew at a cattleguard. Armstrong was very clear about his experience at the rally, saying "This was the worst Rocky I have ever run!"

The next round of the Canadian Rally Championship is the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs in New Richmond, Quebec on June 27-28, 2008. Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs marks the halfway point in the championship and a deep field is expected.

Be sure to check out the awesome Rally Radio audio podcast from Day 2, hosted by Shawn Edstrom.

Comments

[Andrew]

I've posted a much bigger gallery on my site: http://andrewharvey.ca/rmr08/

[Warren Currie]

Thanks for all the hard work FOC Team.
You all did a great job in really poor conditions!
Can't wait for the video!