Olympia, Washington — Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) and his co-driver Nathalie Richard (of Halifax, Nova Scotia) have claimed yet another North American Rally Championship title following their third place finish at the Olympus Rally, the final round of 2012 Rally America series. Even with two remaining events in Canada before the completion of this year’s North American season, the Rockstar Energy Drink duo has accumulated more victory points than their rivals can now mathematically amass.

Winners of the last two rounds in the United States, Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard headed into this northwestern American rally with excitement: « the Olympus Rally used to be part of the World Rally Championship back in the 1980s and I can completely understand why! The roads are amazing and they are a lot of fun to drive. This year, we had to deal with challenging weather conditions. It was extremely dry and there was a high risk of fire in the area so the organizers had to shift the schedule around a lot so we could compete. But, we still had a huge amount of dust to contend with throughout the event » indicates Antoine, who adds: « the level of competition was the best we’ve had in years, reuniting all the top drivers from the US and Canadian series. Our Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X was perfect from start to finish, with only a flat tire after hitting a rock in the road marring our weekend. We were able to make up some time and eventually climbed back onto the podium ».

Rockstar Energy Drink co-driver, Nathalie Richard adds: « We came to this rally to battle with the best but we also knew we could clinch the North American Rally Cup here, depending on how our rivals fared. Everything went well with the car and we’re now ready for the next round in British Columbia ».

It’s once again in the west, this time in Canada in three weeks, where the reigning Canadian champions will continue their domination of the Canadian rally season at the penultimate round, the Pacific Forest Rally. Between now and then, it’s time for the team and its partners to celebrate this new North American title, Antoine’s fifth and Nathalie’s eighth, a new record in the history of co-driving!

Antoine L’Estage holds five North American championship titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012), four Canadian titles (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011), one American title (2010), and thirty-six overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds seven overall national championship titles (2011, 2010, 2007, 2004 in Canada and 2010, 2005, 2004 in the US), as well as forty-two 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 participate 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
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
November 23-24	RALLY OF THE TALL PINES	Bancroft, Ontario

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