Montréal
(Québec), June 30, 2014.– Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) and his new co-driver, Torontonian Alan Ockwell, won
this past weekend’s Rallye Auto nord-américain de la Baie-des-Chaleurs, the
second round of the 2014 Canadian Rally Championship. Antoine L'Estage and Alan
Ockwell dominated from start to finish in intense heat and in front of
thousands of enthusiastic spectators, giving the Yokohama Rally Team a second
win in as many Canadian events this season.
Winner of the
Rallye Perce-Neige at the start of the season, Antoine L'Estage was contesting
his first national event with the multi-champion co-driver Alan Ockwell.
Confident that they work well together, they headed into the rally with
determination : "we attacked hard right at the start. The goal was to
build a big lead during the first few stages and that’s exactly what we did"
explains Antoine. "At the end of the first day, we had more than three minutes
on our closest rival, which allowed us to just manage the situation going
forward" added the Quebec driver.
The Yokohama
Rally team won eighteen of the twenty-one stages that made up the event in
Gaspésie this year. "Our winning gap might give the impression that it was an
easy victory but Baie-des-Chaleurs is never an easy rally. Plenty of
things can happen. This year, with the heat and the demanding roads, I
had to stay very concentrated and I needed a reliable car. I want to
thank John and Matt and the entire team, including Gaspésie Mitsubishi and
Yokohama Tires because finishing this type of event without any flats is one of
the keys to success" noted Antoine.
For the
already six-time Canadian Rally Champion, this win, his sixth at
Baie-des-Chaleurs (new record) is obviously excellent for the
championship. Antoine L'Estage is eyeing a record seventh Canadian
championship title this year and has already recorded maximum points so far
after the first two rounds.
Antoine
L'Estage, Alan Ockwell and the entire Yokohama Rallye team would like to wish
long-time rival, Patrick Richard, a speedy recovery and they hope to have him
back in competition for the third round of the Canadian Rally Championship, the
Rallye Défi in Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec on September 5 and 6.
