Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring/Summer 2019 | Page 8

SUBARU 360°
CANADIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
New Season, Familiar Result
Coming home in first place was a team familiar to
Canadian rally fans: former championship winners Antoine
L’Estage and Alan Ockwell.
For this dynamic pairing, it was a return to the Subaru
brand for which they competed from 2015-17, capturing the
national titles three years in a row. At this year’s Rallye Perce-
Neige, staged in Maniwaki in the Haute-Gatineau region of
Québec, the duo ran with the privateer Swap Shop team,
setting a torrid pace despite some minor technical issues.
Last year’s championship-winning team, driver Karel
Carré and co-driver Samuel Joyal, finished in second place
in their Subaru WRX STI, some four-and-a-half minutes
behind. The final step on the podium went to another Subaru
WRX STI, steered by “Crazy” Leo Urlichich and co-driver
Max Freeman; they also finished as the top production 4WD
class vehicle.
Another two Subaru teams finished in fourth and fifth
overall: The brother act of André and René Leblanc arrived
at the finish less than 30 seconds in front of Marc Bourassa
and Elise Racette.
The fleet of Subaru finishers was rounded out by Marc
André Brisebois and Marie France Desmarais Trépanier
in seventh place overall, Mikael and Manuel Arsenault in
eighth, David Berube and Marilou Leblanc in ninth and
Olivier Martel and Vincent Hubert in 10th.
The second round of the Canadian Rally Championship,
the Rocky Mountain Rally, takes place from May 24-26 in
Invermere, BC.
For Subaru teams, it was a dream start to the 2019
Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) at the Rallye Perce-
Neige, which took place the first weekend in February. The
54th edition of this infamous rally—and the first of eight
rounds in the championship this season—saw nine Subaru
vehicles in the top-10 finishers.