Montréal, Québec — Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) and Irish co-driver Karl Atkinson, won this weekend’s Rallye Défi, held in the Laurentians and Outaouais regions of Québec, and counting towards the North American and Canadian Rally Championships. Leading from the first stage until the very end, the Rockstar duo dominated the event. This victory marks Antoine L'Estage’s seventh win at the Rallye Défi (new record) and his fortieth rally success in North America. As for Karl Atkinson’s debut with the Rockstar team this weekend, this was his first North American win.

« Everything went extremely well for us. Adapting to Karl in the right seat was fairly quick and we dominated the event, winning 19 of the 23 stages » explains L'Estage, who adds: « the Rallye Défi is a series of fairly short stages, which means that you have to be the fastest on the first leg on Friday morning. That’s where you need to make the difference and that’s exactly what we were able to do. The roads were rough but I attacked really hard and with confidence, knowing that I didn’t need to worry about getting any flats with my Yokohama tires. With the lead we built up during the first leg, we knew that all we needed to do was just manage the rest of the rally ».

Antoine L'Estage won the Rallye Défi for the seventh time, which is a new record. « There are always so many fans, friends, and sponsors at this event so I’m really happy to have won for them. Personally, I’m happy that my fortieth win took place here at my home event but I also think about the title and this win brings up to within eleven points of the current leader. Heading into the second half of the season, this was a very important victory that we just earned » specified the Quebec driver.

For Irishman Karl Atkinson, this was his first time competing at the Rallye Défi and as Antoine L’Estage’s co-driver, substituting in for Nathalie Richard: « I am super happy! Thanks to Antoine and the entire Rockstar team for having confidence in me » he indicates.

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 forty overall victories in Canada and the US.

Antoine L’Estage participates in the 2013 Rally America and Canadian Rally Championships with the support of Rockstar Energy Drink, Fenetres Concerto, Mitsubishi Canada, Yokohama Tires, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Énergie Cardio, Formica Group, Alpinestars, VP Racing Fuels, Exe-Tc Suspensions, Driver's Edge Autosport, and Libra Racing.

For more information on the team or on rallying in general, visit antoinelestage.com.

2013 Canadian Rally Championship Calendar
Date	Event	Location
February 2	RALLYE PERCE-NEIGE	Maniwaki, Québec	DNF
June 29-30	RALLYE BAIE-DES-CHALEURS	New Richmond, Québec	1st
September 6-7	RALLYE DÉFI	Ste-Agathe, Québec	1st
October 4-5	PACIFIC FOREST RALLY	Merritt, British Columbia
November 2	ROCKY MOUNTAIN RALLY	Invermere, British Columbia
November 30	RALLY OF THE TALL PINES	Bancroft, Ontario

2013 Rally America Series Calendar
Date	Event	Location
January 25-26	SNO*DRIFT RALLY	Atlanta, Michigan	1st
February 22-23	100 ACRE WOOD	Salem, Missouri	DNF
May 3-4	OREGON TRAIL	Portland, Oregon	DNF
May 31-June 1	S.T.P.R.	Wellsboro, Pennsylvania	Absent
July 26-27	NEW ENGLAND FOREST RALLY	Bethel, Maine	DNF
August 22-23	OJIBWE FORESTS RALLY	Detroit Lakes, Minnesota	DNF
October 18-19	LAKE SUPERIOR PRO RALLY	Houghton, Michigan