There’s no real rest in the world of rally and fresh into 2017 we’re already getting started with the new season of the Canadian Rally Championship. This weekend teams from all over North America converge on the snowy roads of Maniwaki, Quebec for the 52nd running Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki, one of the most challenging events on the CRC calendar! This year adds something different as RPN is now part of the nascent American Rally Association Championship as well, so not only do you have the top teams in Canadian rally showing up to compete but some of the top teams from US Rally as well! Canadian Heavyweights such as Antoine L’Estage/Alan Ockwell and Boris Djordjevic/John Hall will duke it out with the best the South has to offer in Subaru Rally Team USA’s David Higgins/Craig Drew and Travis Pastrana/Robbie Durant! The battle of the Subaru Factory teams on snow and ice!
Also notable is ‘Crazy’ Leo Urlichich’s return to Canadian Rally in a Can-Jam prepared Production(!) class Subaru Impreza alongside Co-Driver Alex Kihurani. Jeremy Norris also makes his first return to rally as well in a brand new Subaru Impreza STI after rolling and irreparably damaging his car at this event in 2016.
The roster is full of notable names all the way down the list and the show is sure to be one to watch!
Locally, a last minute substitution has taken place which has Mal Swann taking over the drivers seat for Maxime Méconse, who was forced to withdraw from the event. Mal will compete next to Tim Dine in a Freedom Shop prepared Production Class Subaru Impreza. Mal and Tim previously contested RPN in 2016 in Mal’s 1st Generation RX7, affectionally known as ‘The Fritter’.
Rally Perce-Neige Maniwaki takes place this Saturday, February 4th and you can keep on top of all the excitement with live vehicle tracking and scoring on the always amazing CDNRally.com. Detailed results and tracking will also be available on RallyScoring.com.
Good luck to all competitors, stay warm, keep it between the snow banks and HAVE FUN!
