Press Release - August 11 - 2025
Trevor Pougnet and Ryan Rouleau Continue Winning Streak at Black Bear Rally
August 11, 2025.– Marking the halfway point of the 2025 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship (ECRC), the Black Bear Rally was held Saturday in the Catchacoma region of Ontario. With headquarters and stages identical to the 2024 edition, it also saw the same winners, as Ontarians Trevor Pougnet and Ryan Rouleau repeated their 2024 triumph aboard their Subaru WRX STI. The pair also claimed their second ECRC victory in the last three events.
It was a hot summer day, with heat and dust covering the gravel roads of the Quarry and Loom Lake stages, each run twice in both directions for a total of eight special stages. Jeremy Drake and Deric Jackson (Subaru WRX STI) were the early leaders, but yielded the top spot to Pougnet/Rouleau at the end of Stage 2. The two crews remained locked in battle until the penultimate stage, when Drake/Jackson lost 20 minutes, and of course any chance of victory.
This opened the door for Mathieu Dubé and Marie-France Desmarais-Trépanier to move up a spot in the overall standings and emerge as the most serious challengers to Pougnet/Rouleau. Owner of a multi-time Canadian championship-winning team Test Racing, Dubé was back in competition for this event. He immediately returned to top form, placing fifth in the opening three stages before raising his pace shortly before mid-rally to take second in each of the final five stages. At the finish, Pougnet/Rouleau’s winning margin over Dubé/Desmarais-Trépanier was 42.5 seconds.
The podium was completed by Jonathan Drake and Ian Lantz (also in a Subaru STI). In a thrilling battle with Zachary Bourassa and Érika Séguin (Subaru) that lasted the entire rally, Drake/Lantz were outpaced by their rivals early on before turning the tables and securing third overall by less than thirty seconds.
Rounding out the overall top five — and more importantly taking the Two-Wheel-Drive class win — were Mathieu Royer and co-driver Alyssa Voyzelle-Montminy, who earned another class victory with their Nissan Sentra.
Michal Gielas/Jacek Gielas (Subaru Impreza RS) and Martin Donnelly/Brandon Pace (Subaru WRX STI) took sixth and seventh overall, ahead of ECRC regulars and 2WD runners-up Mark Toufanov/David Bell (Toyota GT86) and third-place 2WD finishers Zoltan Kovacs/Max Nitz (Hyundai Accent).
Completing the overall top 10 were Dan Galipeau and Colin Turk (Ford Fiesta), whose consistency paid off. In total, 14 of the 17 starters reached the finish. Among the retirements was the spectacular off-road excursion of Simon Bauman/Aiden von-Kannen in their Mitsubishi Lancer. Both driver and co-driver were unhurt.
The 2025 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship consists of eight events across Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The second half of the season kicks off September 6 in Quebec, with the Rallye Défi Petite Nation in Montpellier (Outaouais region).