Press Release - October 23, 2016

• Print

Marc Bourassa and Daniel Paquette Win the Rallye de Charlevoix !

October 23, 2016.- Rallye de Charlevoix, thepenultimate round of the 2016 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship (ECRC) season,was held this past weekend. The very popular and publicized event, which was taking part in the ECRC for the very first time, saw victory go to Marc Bourassaand Daniel Paquette at the wheel of their Subaru WRX STI. This success, earned in particularly difficult weather conditions with rain falling throughout the length of the event and sometimes very heavily, permits Bourassa and his co-driver to engrave their names as winners of the event for the first time.  This was also their second consecutive win in this season’s championship.

With close to thirty years of history, the Rallye de Charlevoix is a classic among the motorsporting events held annually in Quebec and in Canada.  This year, twenty-five teams took to the ceremonial start, in front of the Casino de Charlevoix and at the majestic Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaieon Friday night. On Saturday, the nine scheduled competitive stages forced the competitors to face the usual tricky aspects of the event as well as difficult road conditions with mud and standing water  covering the majority of the roads following intense showers.

Leading after the first two stages held in the heart of the town of Clermont, Jean-Sébastien Besner and Yvan Joyal (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII)were passed by Marc Bourassa and Daniel Paquette (Subaru WRX STI) shortly thereafter, following the first long stage.  Winners of the prior ECRC event (the Rallye Défi last September), Bourassa and Paquette never relinquished the top rung the leaderboard. 

Their job was made a little easier after the abandon of Mikael Arsenault, of Gaspésie,and his co-driver Amélie Bélanger (Subaru WRX STI), who were in second place when they crashed on the legendary La Pax stage, which was once again filled with enthusiastic spectators despite the rain and strong winds.

At the end of the day, Bourassa/Paquette claimed victory with a lead of six minutes and thirty-three seconds ahead of Simon Dubé and Hubert Gaudreau, winners of the 2WD class in their Volkswagen Golf GTI. Witnessing a team with a 2WD car finish in second place overall is exceptional at this event and especially given the conditions of this 2016 edition. 

The 2WD favourite, American Chris Greenhouse, co-driven by Ryan Scott in a Dodge SRT-4, abandoned the event with mechanical problems midway through, while leading the class.  This development opened the way for Dubé/Gaudreau, who then went on to climb to second place overall. The result enables Dubé a shot at the ECRC two-wheel drive title aided by the current leader’s, Philippe Benoît, fifth place finish in 2WD and eleventh overall.

Third place overall goes to Ontario Champion Nick Mathew and his co-driver James Drake, in a Subaru WRX STI, who made their way onto the podium after problems early in the day. They got ahead of another Subaru team, that of Quebeckers Philippe Cotton and Marie-France Desmarais. The Top 5 was rounded off by Besner/Joyal, who gave up several minutes due to mechanical problems. This fifth place finish nevertheless allows Besner to maintain his healthy lead in the ECRC 4WD drivers’ championship with one round left in the season.

Impressive 2WD performances were not limited to Dubé/Gaudreau at this rally.  In sixth and seventh place overall were the duos of Julien Rondeau/Jonathan Raymond and Jean-Daniel Francoeur/Patrick Cyr, in their Honda Civics. They were followed by Mathieu Perron/Nancy Frigon (Subaru WRX STI), Alexandre Laviolette/Alexandre Cyr (Honda Civic, 2WD) and Frédéric Bujold/Ian Guité (Subaru WRX STI). In total, twenty of the twenty-five teams completed the event.

The following round of the Eastern Canadian Rally Championship, the Rally of the Tall Pines, will take place in one month, in Bancroft (Saturday, November 26th). This rally will be the last on the calendar for the ECRC 2016 season.

2016 Calendar