After his big rally-ending crash on Friday night at Baie-des-Chaleurs, Ken Block (part-time Arborist!) sent us an update on Saturday with the full details of their off-road excursion.

"The rally was going well. My Subaru STI was handling exceptionally well and the first three stages went great (we were leading by 15 seconds). I was feeling good, but was concerned about the hanging dust we were about to face going into the two late night stages. But, I knew I had to trust my pace note skills and try to run a good pace (which can be very scary and have a bad outcome if you are wrong!).

At the beginning of stage 4, there’s a long straight into a tight right corner. I know this part of the stage well, and was confident I knew it even in the dense dust at night. But, I was over-confident and didn’t realize how close to the corner we were till it was too late. So, I tried to slow the car down the best I could before we went off into the trees...but, we still ended up going off sideways at approx. 70 MPH. We hit so hard that we broke one decent size tree in half, and rolled up the tree behind it 15 feet. When the car came down (after rolling approx. 2.5 times up the tree), we landed back onto the tree we had broken (on the passenger side of the car), and that three foot stump went into the car thru the back passenger side window (it was a crazy sight to see a stump sticking up into the inside of the car!).

This was the biggest and scariest crash I have EVER had. I am really stoked that Alex and I were able to walk away from this one, and the car wasn’t damaged too bad. Special thanks to my team and Subaru for building such a safe and sturdy car."  [Photo of car via WRS]

Pat Richard has won the 2009 Baie Des Chaleurs rally, making this his third win at Baie, a record for the Subaru Rally Team Canada driver. Though the rough rally caused problems for Richard and co-driver Alan Ockwell, the pair carved out a large lead and maintained it through the event.

“We had a flat on friday night, but we'd been able to keep pace with Ken Block till he went off. After that, we really were able to open our lead and win,” said Richard during the podium festivities.

Richard also suffered a flat tire on each of the two last stages, the tires disintegrating, and the pair continued driving despite wearing down the bare wheel.

The win means that Richard and Ockwell move into the lead in the Canadian Rally Championship. The pair also won the Rocky Mountain Rally last month after a DNF at the season opener, Rallye Perce Neige.

New Richmond locals Martin Gauvin and Daniel Duchesneau finished a career high second place.

“This is the best finish ever of a Gaspesien in the 31 years of this rally,” said Gauvin. “We had to drive safe but still very fast, and we never hit anything or had any problems.”

Third place went to Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy. Henderson now lives near Montreal but originally hails from New Richmond.

“We had 46 seconds on Antoine L'Estage going into the last stage, and I knew I had to be fast to stay ahead,” said Henderson. “We'd lost power steering, but I just pushed so hard. At the end I knew we'd been fast enough.”

L'Estage, who had been having transmission problems during the morning, lost speed after headgasket problems. L'Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard pushed as hard as possible on the last stage, 46 seconds back of third place Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy.

“In the end they got us by seven seconds,” said Nathalie Richard.

“We pushed so hard on that last stage, trying to make up time,” said L'Estage. “The positive is that when you have problems and fall down the order, you really learn your limits and the limits of the car when you claw back up.”

Andrew Comrie-Picard had also suffered problems on Friday that put him down the order. Today, he and co-driver Jen Horsey worked their way back up the order and finished fifth.

“We took it easy on the last stage,” said Horsey. “After yesterday, this event became a development opportunity, and we really were able to make some big gains.”

A battle was waged in two wheel drive between Jan and Jody Zedril in their Mitsubishi Lancer and Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant in a Suzuki Swift. The two teams had been trading times through the rally, with the Zedrils building an advantage through the day.

“We were a bit slower on the second last stage,” said Jody Zedril. “We hadn't done that one at full speed before, and wanted to make sure our notes were good, but we lost a lot of time to Peter there.”

The margin had been cut in half, and with a repeat of the same stage ahead, Jan knew he'd have to drive harder to keep Kocandrle at bay.

“I just pushed harder, and we knew our notes were good,” said Jan Zedril. “We hit 186km/h on the long straight, and managed to finish 40 seconds ahead of Kocandrle on the last stage.”

Sylvain Erickson and Brian Maxwell were in third place Saturday morning, despite some high speed excitement ealry on.

“We went off three times on the first stage, so we lost some time,” said Erickson. “This is not my rally, the two at the front are too far ahead. I will just try to keep third place.”

Unfortunately for Ericskson, the rally did not go to plan. Technical problems midday sidelined the pair, forcing their retirement.

Nick and Kelly Mathew were having a better morning than their Friday evening when the pair had two flats and broke their rear suspension.

“Yeah, we're having a better time, but we're going slower over the rough stuff,” said Nick. “I'd really like to move up the pace because I know we can go faster.”

The two were very fast through the afternoon, with one of the longest jumps – a distance of 110 feet.

“We got back to the pace we wanted by the end, and I am really happy with our times,” said Nick.

Leo Urlichich is back in his first national rally after a long break.

“If you only knew how much work it is to get here,” said a breathless Leo at the end of the final stage. “Outside it looks so smooth, but inside, it's crazy!”

Flatovercrest.com partnered with Planet Motorsport to present the second annual Baie Jump contest. The furthest jump in both all wheel drive and two wheel drive will be awarded a high performance Exedy clutch, courtesy of Planet Motorsport.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey won in the all wheel drive class, launching 112 feet. In two wheel drive, the prize goes to Raphael and Olivier Guite for their 96 foot jump in a Dodge SRT4. 

The next stop on the Canadian Rallye Championship is the Rallye Defi Ste Agathe Duhamel in early September.

Pat Richard and Alan Ockwell of the Subaru Rally Team Canada have moved into the lead of the 2009 Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs. The two moved up after Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino crashed out of the rally on stage four.

Richard and Ockwell had been running in second place having suffered a flat on the second stage, costing valuable time. The car is also equipped with a five speed gearbox after the six speed was damaged prior to the rally. The reduction in number of gears is costing the team time.

“We're probably down about 20-30km/h at the top end,” explained Richard. “On the long straights we're going to lose time, but I'll just have to make it up on the corners.”

Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard in the Rockstar Energy Drink Mitsubishi sit in second place, approximately 20 seconds behind Richard and Ockwell.

“I am not totally confident in the car right now,” said L'Estage. “I am still learning it, and you have to be so completely in sync with the car to compete at the speeds we are going. Right now, I just don't know the car well enough.”

Rough conditions have already taken a toll on the teams, many coming in with flat tires. Sylvain Erickson and Brian Maxwell were one such team, though the pair are working with bigger issues. Erickson has never worked with Maxwell before, and the pair are using english notes, another first for Erickson. Despite the challenges, the pair sit in third at the end of the rally.

“We've had a couple of miscommunications that have cost us time,” said Maxwell. “We've also had two flats, which has slowed us down.”

In 2005, Maxwell co-drove for Antoine L'Estage for the first time at Baie. It was also the first time L'Estage used english notes.

“Sylvain has rallied a lot more generally without notes,” said Maxwell. “When he started, it was before notes were used, so he's used to driving blind. Even with previous co-drivers, they weren't really using notes.”

“You know, when you think about how fast he goes, without notes, once he learns how, it will be amazing.” said L'Estage.

The rally has already taken a bite out of Andrew Comrie-Picard and Jen Horsey, who are suffering brake problems.

“We basically had about half the brakes over the last few stages,” said Horsey. “It's a development issue, and we know what we want, but we haven't been able to get it yet, so we're working with what we have.”

The pair were late checking out of the first service taking a two minute penalty.

“At this point, this is just a test event for us,” said Horsey.

A tight battle has developed in the two wheel drive class, with Peter Kocandrle and Jimmy Brant working to catch the Zedril brothers in their Mitsubishi Lancer.

“Everything is holding together well,” said Jan Zedril, as the team pulled into service. “Just clean the windows, get something to eat and drink.”

The Zedrils suffered a bad off at the Rocky Mountain Rally last month, and started this event with a little reservation.

“Of course we were slow at the beginning, just to get back to things,” said co-driver Jody Zedril. “We took a stage or two to get going again, but now we're back at it.”

Kocandrle is working to close the 20 second gap to the Zedrils, but suffered a flat late on the first stage, and also had a few “silly” moments at the spectator area.

Bruno Carre is also back after a bad crash at Rocky, though his shell could not be repaired, so he's renting a shell from Planet Motorsport for the rally.

“It's not the same as my old car, and I can't adjust the brakes like I am used to, but otherwise, it's great,” said Carre, who admitted he was taking things a little more cautiously here at Baie.

Nick and Kelly Mathew are back with a repaired car after a DNF at the Black Bear regional rally in Ontario, just two weeks ago. The bad luck has yet to leave the team it seems, as the two suffered two flats over the first three stages, and also bent a strut, limping into service.

“After all the work Planet Motorsport did to get us ready for Baie, this should be easy for them,” said driver Nick Mathew.

Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino were unavailable for comment after the crash, but the crew at Subaru Rally Team USA informed us that the pair are ok.

The crash created a force majeur to be applied on stage four, and the delay meant that stage five was canceled. All teams that completed stage four will keep their times, and any car that did not make it through would be given the time of the slowest car to complete the stage.

Stages start early tomorrow and the rally concludes at the famous Camp Brule jump.

The Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs is a few hours away and teams will be fighting in one of the tightest championship battles in years. With the top eight teams in the Canadian Rally Championship separated by just 10 points, Baie will be a shootout right to the finish.

Both Pat Richard and Antoine L'Estage have each earned one win and suffered one DNF this year, resulting in a tie for the championship lead at 23 points each. Neither one can afford to give the other driver a chance, but a mistake here could be costly, potentially ending a championship run.

“We really need to manage our speed at this event,” says Richard, “The championship is so close that you can't really back off to save the car, but this event is rough and you need to be careful."

In the ten point spread behind the two lead drivers are another 6 teams ready to pounce on any mistake an opponent makes.

Sylvain Erickson, who has won here in the past, is hoping to score some valuable championship points, and at only six point back from the leaders, has the speed and skill to threaten for the win.

Andrew Comrie-Picard and stand in co-driver Jen Horsey will hop eto narrow the gap to the Pat and Antoine. ACP sits only four points back, and finished second place despite a difficult run at the Rocky Mountain Rally last month in Calgary.

All the teams will have to watch out for American driver Ken Block, with Subaru Rally Team USA. Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino won this event in 2008, their first time here, and are keen to repeat the feat.

"The atmosphere is something very close to what you see in a WRC or European championship event and that makes Baie quite unique in North American rally," said Gelsomino. "Those are truly world class roads, really enjoyable to drive but they don't give much of a chance if you make a mistake."

The event itself is rough and very fast, which suits the all out style of Block. Teams must drive cleanly to stay ahead of the competition. Last year, both Block and Richard suffered numerous technical problems as the pair battled for the win.

This year's entry nears 50 cars, and will be highlighted by Martin Gauvin and Daniel Duchesneau of New Richmond, Que., and Craig Henderson and Lyne Murphy also of New Richmond, Que. Both have earned podium finishes in the past and are viable threats on their hometown roads.

Nick and Kelly Mathew of Caledon, Ont., will aim for more valuable championship points after a third place finish at the Rocky Mountain Rally.

Jan and Jody Zedril are entered after a bad crash at the Rocky Mountain Rally in late May left their two wheel drive Mitsubishi Lancer in need of repairs. Currently second place in the Two Wheel Drive Championship, and their rivals not entered, the Zedrils have a great opportunity to move up in the standings.

"Work started on the car as soon as we got home from Rocky, and we're all set to go," said Jody Zedril.

Rain fell this afternoon, wetting the roads. The forecast is calling for more rain tonight and tomorrow, which could drastically change the roads from the dry conditions seen during the recce.

Antoine L'Estage has summed up the 2009 Rallye Baie-Des-Chaleurs for everyone.

“Baie is going to be a really exciting rally for the fans and teams, with so much competition,” said L’Estage. “I don't want to let Ken Block win again!”

To simplify: Follow @flatovercrest for your first entry into the draw. Tweet or re-tweet Baie coverage with the #cdnrally hashtag for a second entry. Simple!

Your chance to meet Subaru Rally Team Canada's Pat Richard and Subaru Rally Team USA's Ken Block is almost here!

Pat is hot off a win at Rocky Mountain Rally and is tied for the Canadian Championship, while Ken is fresh from his win at STPR and is back to defend his 2008 win at Baie! Both drivers and their Subaru rally cars will be at a meet and greet for fans at New Richmond Subaru on Friday June 26, 2009 from 11am-2pm. Ask questions, get autographs and take plenty of photos.

Also on hand for the event will be Craig Henderson, Martin Gauvin and Martin Donnelly.

There will be lots of rally video to watch, posters and stickers to collect, and a BBQ.

This event will preceed the 2009 Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs, so be sure to get to the spectator areas to watch the action live!

Also, keep your eyes on Flatovercrest.com, and follow flatovercrest on Twitter. We have a pair of Ken Block's driving shoes - the very shoes Ken wore on his way to winning the Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs last year - and we'll be giving them away to one lucky rally fan.

Over 20 years ago, Bob Boland had a conversation with some Ontario rallyists and found himself stepping into the role of Sweep – the crew that pulls out your car after you’ve stuffed it.

 “That first event was just me,” said Boland. “Now we have five trucks split over two teams.”

One of the first challenges was earning the trust of competitors.

“We know how much money these guys have invested in their cars, and we respect that,” said Boland. “I remember one of the top competitors going off at a rally when the Sweep team was fairly new, and they opted to get a tow truck rather than use us.”

Diplomaticly, Boland refused to name the crew, but instead said that the tow truck extraction “wasn’t pretty.”

 “We learned a lot in those first couple years,” said Trish Groom, the team’s communication lead and one of the navigators on Sweep Team 2. “We learned quickly that we had to set things up right the first time. The assessment part of the pull is huge”

Soon, crews started opting for the Sweep team, and were so eager to help that they started getting involved in the extractions. It quickly became more of a hindrance than a help.

“I know where the crews are coming from, wanting to be involved and make sure everything is ok,” said Boland. “The thing is, we know what we’re doing, and work so well together that having extra help can really slow things down.”

 The goal of the crew is to do minimal damage when they pull out the car. The team has invested in special equipment and continually look to improve their skills, having taken special fire response training, first aid and HAM radio courses.

 The trucks have also become more refined, and most teams have moved onto the third or fourth trucks due to the wear and tear the vehicles see. Each truck carries thousands of dollars in gear.

 Boland has recently fit his truck with a dive tank that means he can more quickly fill a special airbag used to lift cars. Neither has been used yet, and Boland would love to see it stay that way.

 “We learned to buy the same winch for each of the truck,” said Groom. “That way, if we have to do a double pull, they will go at the same speed.”

 The same winches are fit with special rope that is easier and safer to work with than rope. One of the biggest advantages is the rope carries no energy, so if something snaps (more likely a tow hook), the rope falls to the ground, rather than snapping back.

 Just like the trucks, the team members are all equal. Each truck, and each team member play a distinct role in the entire operation. The team picked up uniforms – fire engine red coveralls with “Sweep” on the back – to help appear more professional and make them easy to identify.

 There are differences in the team members. Each truck has a driver and navigator, just like a rally car, and except for one truck, each crew is also a couple in their daily lives.

 “The navigators plan out the entire rally the day before, using the routebooks,” said Groom. “We always do a new plan for every event, because schedules and roads can change.”

 On thing that usually doesn’t change is that Team One usually runs the first stage.

 “We like to get a little extra sleep in the mornings,” grinned Groom, a member of Team Two.

When the Crew showed up at Defi in 2008, they were heading for the stages when a call came over the radio that they were all needed at the ceremonial start.

“We had no idea what would have gone wrong that would need all of us,” said Groom.

When they arrived, rally organisers announced that the Sweep team was celebrating it’s 20^th anniversary, and had the trucks drive over the ceremonial start ramp.

“We looked around and saw that every car in the rally had a special 20^th anniversary sticker on it,” said Groom. “It was amazing.”

Initially, Quebec events used other means to extract stuck cars.

“That’s their rallies, and their choice,” said Boland. “When we were first invited to Quebec, we were floored and flattered. We have never taken it for granted.”

Oddly, sometimes events take for granted that the Sweep team will show up.

“We know when rallies are being held, and sometimes we don’t get an invite,” said Groom. “We’re not going to assume we’re wanted, because we respect that it’s up to each organiser.”

 The issue is always sorted out before the event, and competitors have always been able to get their cars out.

In those 20 years, there have been plenty of memories, and Boland keeps them filed away in a binder. The cover from every routebook is saved as a memento, and a defacto logbook. Photos of many extractions are kept as well, and there are one or two where a Sweep truck was being extracted, rather than extracting.

“You know, we don’t hang around at the back of the rally, we have to keep up,” said Boland. “Sometimes we make mistakes too.”

Those mistakes are few and far between, and in at least one case, the result of a course car that forgot to tell the Sweep team they were stopping, forcing the truck to dive off the road, rather than hit the 99 car.

Just like rally teams, the Sweep crew have a favourite stage – Camp Brule at the upcoming Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs.

“It’s the fans, the crowds, it’s just amazing,” said Boland.

Earning a spot on the team is no small feat.

“Basically, someone has to die for a spot to open up,” jokes Groom, “and we’re all a long way from that.”

So how long will the Ontario Sweep team continue to pull and persuade cars out of the woods?

“I can’t fathom it not being here, of us not doing it, so long as there’s a team,” said Groom. Future rallyists should note that a future Sweep team is already in the works – Groom’s daughter has already helped out at events in the past, learning the tricks of the trade.

-with files from Inside Track Motorsport News . Photos courtesy of the Ontario Sweep Team.

Marking the mid-season in the 2009 Quebec Rally Championship, the Rallye Saguenay was also the third consecutive win at the event for Simon Dubé.

Dubé and co-driver Pat Lavigne put their VW Golf on the top of the podium at the end of the six stage event, held in the Charlevoix region of Quebec. The two also scored top honours in the Jon Nichols Cup, a series dedicated to modified two wheel drive cars.

Sylvain Bazinet and co-driver Lyne Murphy pedaled their Honda Civic into first place in the Coupe du Québec, a series for production two wheel drive cars. The pair finished two minutes, 38 seconds behind Dubé and Lavigne.

Philippe Roberge and Éric Lachance, Jean-Marc Lord and Nathalie Simard along with Marc-Olivier Harnois and Éric Maltais filled out the order in the Jon Nichols Cup.

The next stop on the Québec Rally Championship is the Rallye de Lac-aux-Sables, in Mauricie, Québec, Aug, 15, 2009.

- photos courtesy of Philip Erickson

Round 1 of the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship, presented by Subaru and supported by Yokohama Tire Canada. Shows courtesy of CARS and TV2GO.