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Congratulations to John Buffum and team

Antoine L’Estage wins season opening showdown at Rallye Perce Neige

MANIWAKI, Quebec (CARS Media) – Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard of St Jean-sur-Richlieu, Que., started the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship presented by Subaru and supported by Yokohama, with a win at the legendary Rallye Perce Neige  The rally featured an exceptionally strong field that included six former winners, and some of the most trying conditions this rally has ever seen.

Antoine L’Estage and co-driver, Nathalie Richard, came to the event with their brand new Rockstar Royal Group Mitsubishi EVO X and planned to use the event to develop the car. After almost 200kms of competition, the reigning North American Rally Champions had a winning margin of just four seconds.

“It’s absolutely amazing, unbelievable,” said L’Estage at the finish. “We came here expecting to be slower, and just learn the car, but other people had problems and we got faster. I'm very, very happy with the result.”

The Canadian Rally Championship is comprised of six events held nationwide in a season that extends from February to November. The series is presented by Subaru Canada, supported by Yokohama Canada and features contingency programs from Subaru Canada and Mitsubishi Canada. The Canadian Association of Rallysport (CARS) is the official sanctioning body for rallying in Canada.

The series moves west for the next round of the championship, the Rocky Mountain Rally, May 29-30 in Calgary, Alberta.

Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki Final Results (full results at www.rallyscoring.com)

1) Antoine L’Estage – Nathalie Richard (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 1 hours 59 min. 17 sec.

2) Sylvain Erickson – Philip Erickson (Subaru Impreza STI) – 1:59:21

3) Peter Thomson – Rod Hendricksen (Mitsubishi EVO IX) – 2:03:26

4) Bruno Carre – Yvan Joyal (Subaru Impreza STI) – 2:04:26

5) Jean-Sebastien Besner – Jacques Besner (Mitsubishi EVO VIII) – 2:12:03

6) Craig Henderson – Lyne Murphy (Subaru Impreza STI) – 2:12:37

7) Rejean Losier – Francois Morin  (Mitsubishi EVO VIII) – 2:13:35

8) Martin Losier – Patrick Losier (Mitsubishi EVO V) – 2:13:41

9) Chris Martin – Phil Narini (Subaru Impreza) – 2:16:23

10) Andrew Wallbank – Robin Fleguel (Subaru Impreza STI) – 2:18:09