FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 25, 2012 |
For more information, Contact: Antoine L’Estage Coyote Rallye Media Services 514-825-4332 E-mail: alestage@coyoterallye.com Website: http://www.coyoterallye.com/ |
Bancroft, Ontario — This past weekend, Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) and his co-driver Nathalie Richard (of Halifax, Nova Scotia) completed the 2012 North American Rally Cup and the Canadian Rally Championship with another podium finish, their 6th in as many Canadian events this year. This second place finish at the Rally of the Tall Pines, combined with four victories and another second place earlier this year, confirms their 2012 Canadian and North American rally championship titles.
« We immediately took a healthy lead by winning the first six stages of the rally and were about a minute ahead when we had our problem in the rear right, costing us forty seconds » explains Antoine L'Estage, who adds : « we were confident when we left for the last loop of three stages. Unfortunately, we made a bad tire choice and suffered a puncture early in the first 32km stage, which caused us to lose a lot of time when we stopped to change it in the dark ».
For the Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team, this just adds to an exceptional 2012 season: « I would’ve liked to finish the season with another win but we were a bit unlucky at this last event » confides the Quebec driver, who, along with co-driver Richard, locked up the Canadian championship last month and finish with more than double the points of their closest rival. « Tall Pines is always an unpredictable rally, hard on the cars and very tricky with icy gravel roads. Our result here caps off a stellar 2012 season in which we attained all of our primary goals » adds co-driver Nathalie Richard.
The entire Rockstar Energy Drink Team is looking forward to returning to the Canadian Rally Championship again next year with its Mitsubishi Lancer Évolution X.
Antoine L’Estage holds five North American championship titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), five Canadian titles (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012), one American title (2010), and thirty-seven overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds eight overall national championship titles (2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 in Canada and 2004, 2005, 2010 in the US), as well as forty-three overall rally wins on both sides of the border. She also holds a record eight North American Co-Driving Championship titles (2004 – 2012, excluding 2006).
Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard participated in the 2012 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Formica Group, Fenetres Concerto, Mitsubishi Canada, Yokohama Tires, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Énergie Cardio, VP Racing Fuels, Exe-Tc Suspensions, Hawk Performance Brake Pads, Driver's Edge Autosport, and Libra Racing.
For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit antoinelestage.com.
Canadian Rally Championship 2012 Calendar | |||
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Date | Event | Location | |
February 4-5 | RALLYE PERCE-NEIGE | Maniwaki, Québec | 1st |
May 25-26 | ROCKY MOUNTAIN RALLY | Calgary, Alberta | 1st |
June 29-30 | RALLYE BAIE-DES-CHALEURS | New Richmond, Québec | 1st |
September 6-8 | RALLYE DÉFI | Ste-Agathe, Québec | 2nd |
October 12-13 | PACIFIC FOREST RALLY | Merritt, British Columbia | 1st |
November 23-24 | RALLY OF THE TALL PINES | Bancroft, Ontario | 2nd |
Rally America Series 2012 Calendar | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date | Event | Location | |
January 27-28 | SNO*DRIFT RALLY | Atlanta, Michigan | 2nd |
February 24-25 | 100 ACRE WOOD | Salem, Missouri | DNF |
May 4-6 | OREGON TRAIL | Portland, Oregon | DNF |
June 1-2 | S.T.P.R. | Wellsboro, Pennsylvania | 1st |
July 13-14 | NEW ENGLAND FOREST RALLY | Bethel, Maine | 1st |
September 22-23 | OLYMPUS RALLY | Olympia, Washington | 3rd |