|
Contact: Terry Epp Tel: 905-640-6444 Email: rally.cars@sympatico.ca |
Date: May 29, 2005 | |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Calgary, Alberta - Peter Thomson of Toronto and his co-driver Rod Hendricksen of New Jersey drove their Subaru Impreza WRX to victory yesterday in the Rocky Mountain Rally, presented par Makita, Round 2 of the Canadian Rally Championship.
It was Thomson’s second victory in a row in just two rallies this season. Thomson won the season’s opener, the Perce-Neige Rally in February and this weekend, he took the lead of the event Friday night, on the fourth of a total of 14 special stages.
Antoine L'Estage and Yanick Napert of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec were the early leaders of the event in their Hyundai Tiburon 4WD until a spectacular crash ended their day of work on SS4. Just before the accident, L’Estage was sharing the lead with Norm LeBlanc of British Columbia, the driver of a Subaru Impreza WRX. Amazingly, LeBlanc also went off the road in the same special stage 4!
The two co-leaders out of the running, Peter Thomson managed to slowly pull away from his closest pursuer, American John Cassidy. Cassidy drove faultlessly all event long and captured his first podium finish ever.
Behind them raged an intense battle between Quebec’s Jon Nichols and Alberta’s Gord Olsen, both driving VW Golfs. Nichols, who is considered to be the best two-wheel drive racer in Canada, crossed the finish with a two-second lead over Olsen.
American competitor Randy Zimmer rounded up the top five, finishing ahead of Ontario’s Robert Jekosz and the Sprongl brothers who captured the class victory in their Suzuki. Only six teams retired from the rally, and the complete results can be found on the event’s official web site at www.rockymountainrally.com.
The next round of the Canadian Rally Championship, the Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs in Quebec, will be held July 1 and 2. Information about this event can be found at www.rallyebdc.com. The Canadian Rally Championship is now in its 49th year of running, information about the series and other rallies in Canada can be found at www.carsrally.ca.
Final Standings - Top 10: