@AntoineLEstage • @YokohamaCanada • @CRCrally • MERRIT, BC – Quebec driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu) and his co-driver, Torontonian Alan Ockwell, won this past weekend’s Pacific Forest Rally, in Merritt, British Columbia. This very important victory for the Yokohama Rally Team driver assured him the Canadian championship title, two rounds prior to the end of the season. The 2014 title is also history-making as Antoine L’Estage becomes the first driver to earn seven rally championships in the country.
Already winner of the Perce-Neige, Baie-des-Chaleurs and Défi rallies in the first half of the season, Antoine L’Estage and the Yokohama Rally Team continued their uninterrupted winning streak since the start of the 2014 season with another win this weekend at the Pacific Forest Rally. After leading the rally from the start right to the finish, this victory signifies much more for Antoine L’Estage, who becomes the first driver to earn seven Canadian Rally Championship titles in its more than fifty years since inception.
“When I started my rally career, I saw titles being won by the best drivers of that time and it seemed impossible to achieve. Today, thanks to my team, co-drivers, sponsors, and my family, this has become a reality. Nobody has ever won seven Canadian championships before and I’m proud to be the first driver to get there,” emphasized Antoine.
Antoine L’Estage and Alan Ockwell took the lead of the rally on the first competitive stage and never lost top spot on their way to the Quebec driver’s seventh victory at the Pacific Forest Rally, which is also an event record.
“It’s a rally that I’ve always done well at and again this year, thanks to the hard work of John Buffum and all members of the team as well as my trusty Yokohama tires, everything was again aligned for a great performance,” indicated the new seven-time Canadian champion, who specified, “rally is a real extreme sport, we can never stop working in order to attain the level that is required to win rallies and titles in the Canadian championship. We’re there now and in fine form and I really hope I can share with the greatest number of fans, the rally community in Quebec and in Canada, and current and future sponsors, the page we have just written in Canadian motorsport history books.”
This victory at the 2014 Pacific Forest Rally also enabled Antoine’s co-driver, Alan Ockwell, enough points to move into the “Grand Master” category, a prestigious honour in the world of Canadian rallying.
Antoine L’Estage currently holds six North American titles (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013), six Canadian (2006, 2007, 2010 to 2013), one American (2010) and forty-five overall victories in Canada and the United States.
He is contesting the 2014 Canadian Rally Championship with the support of Yokohama Tires, Drenth Motorsport Gearboxes, Énergie Cardio, Method Race Wheels, VP Racing Fuels, Alpinestars, Exe-Tc Suspensions, Driver’s Edge Autosport, and Libra Racing. For more information on the team or rally in general, please visit the antoinelestage.com site.
From Coyote Rallye Media Services
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