Press Release

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25, 2012
For more information, Contact:
Antoine L’Estage
Coyote Rallye Media Services
514-825-4332
E-mail: alestage@coyoterallye.com
Website: http://www.coyoterallye.com/

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard 2012 Champions...
Finish an Outstanding Season on the Podium

Bancroft, Ontario — This past weekend, Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) and his co-driver Nathalie Richard (of Halifax, Nova Scotia) completed the 2012 North American Rally Cup and the Canadian Rally Championship with another podium finish, their 6th in as many Canadian events this year. This second place finish at the Rally of the Tall Pines, combined with four victories and another second place earlier this year, confirms their 2012 Canadian and North American rally championship titles.

« We immediately took a healthy lead by winning the first six stages of the rally and were about a minute ahead when we had our problem in the rear right, costing us forty seconds » explains Antoine L'Estage, who adds : « we were confident when we left for the last loop of three stages. Unfortunately, we made a bad tire choice and suffered a puncture early in the first 32km stage, which caused us to lose a lot of time when we stopped to change it in the dark ».

For the Rockstar Energy Drink Rally Team, this just adds to an exceptional 2012 season: « I would’ve liked to finish the season with another win but we were a bit unlucky at this last event » confides the Quebec driver, who, along with co-driver Richard, locked up the Canadian championship last month and finish with more than double the points of their closest rival. « Tall Pines is always an unpredictable rally, hard on the cars and very tricky with icy gravel roads. Our result here caps off a stellar 2012 season in which we attained all of our primary goals » adds co-driver Nathalie Richard.

The entire Rockstar Energy Drink Team is looking forward to returning to the Canadian Rally Championship again next year with its Mitsubishi Lancer Évolution X.

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 thirty-seven overall victories in Canada and the US. Nathalie Richard holds eight overall national championship titles (2004, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 in Canada and 2004, 2005, 2010 in the US), as well as forty-three 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 participated 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
DateEventLocation 
February 4-5RALLYE PERCE-NEIGEManiwaki, Québec1st
May 25-26ROCKY MOUNTAIN RALLYCalgary, Alberta1st
June 29-30RALLYE BAIE-DES-CHALEURSNew Richmond, Québec1st
September 6-8RALLYE DÉFISte-Agathe, Québec2nd
October 12-13PACIFIC FOREST RALLYMerritt, British Columbia1st
November 23-24RALLY OF THE TALL PINESBancroft, Ontario2nd

Rally America Series 2012 Calendar
DateEventLocation 
January 27-28SNO*DRIFT RALLYAtlanta, Michigan2nd
February 24-25100 ACRE WOODSalem, MissouriDNF
May 4-6OREGON TRAILPortland, OregonDNF
June 1-2S.T.P.R.Wellsboro, Pennsylvania1st
July 13-14NEW ENGLAND FOREST RALLYBethel, Maine1st
September 22-23OLYMPUS RALLYOlympia, Washington3rd

- 30 -


Press Release Index
Teams Index
RRN Index