Subaru Rally Team Canada Tops Pacific Forest Rally

• Subaru Rally Team Canada (SRTC) completes Pacific Forest Rally with a 3 minute and 34 second lead to win third Canadian Rally Championship national event this season
• The win at Pacific Forest Rally, held in Merritt, B.C. is the start of a busy two weekend western Canada rally schedule as Rocky Mountain Rally in Invermere, B.C. begins on Saturday, October 31.

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 26, 2015 /CNW/ - Subaru Canada, Inc. (SCI) is excited to announce that Subaru Rally Team Canada (SRTC) had a fantastic outing at Pacific Forest Rally in Merritt, B.C. on October 23 - 24, 2015, winning their third of four Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) events of this season. Antoine L'Estage, SRTC driver, and Alan Ockwell, SRTC co-driver, topped the podium three minutes and 34 seconds ahead of the second place finisher – extending their point leads in all three of the CRC titles – manufacturer, driver and co-driver.  

The first day of the event began late in the day on October 23^rd and SRTC quickly built a strong lead of over two minutes and 20 seconds. Starting day two SRTC was able to build on that lead, which proved to be a big help later in the rally as the team experienced some rear driver side suspension issues after a large compression caused some damage on the rough terrain.

"We started the second day with a big lead and increased our time early on the second day. On the second run of the Coldwater stage we had a big compression that broke the lower control arm, which caused other components to break as well, so we limped through the stage and got through it," said Antoine L'Estage, SRTC driver. "We did an emergency fix with a ratchet strap, some wrenches and clamps – it held up for us until we could get back to a service and the Rocket Rally Racing guys could get us back into prime shape to gain some more time that we lost to win the rally. We could not be happier to extend our lead in the championship!"

"It is great to see Subaru Rally Team Canada persevere through each and every obstacle that a gruelling rally event can put a vehicle through and get through a difficult situation while still remaining confident and putting more points towards the national titles," said Brian Hyland, Director of Aftersales – Parts Operations for Subaru Canada, Inc.

"I'm very proud of the results that Subaru Rally Team Canada and the other Rocket Rally vehicles were able to achieve at Pacific Forest Rally," said Patrick Richard, team principal for SRTC. "Not only did we get to witness SRTC win the national event, showcasing the extreme capabilities of the Subaru WRX STI, we are also celebrating another Rocket Rally national podium finish [3^rd], and a novice victory in the regional event. With all of these impressive results being accomplished in various generations of the Subaru WRX STI it is clear to see the underlying reliability and durability that goes into each and every Subaru vehicle."

SRTC has now won three of the four 2015 CRC national events. Without much time between events, the next national event, Rocky Mountain Rally, is this next weekend, October 31 and November 1, in Invermere, B.C.

2015 Pacific Forest Rally Results
Position	Driver / Co-Driver	Vehicle	Time
1	Antoine L'Estage / Alan Ockwell	2015 Subaru WRX STI	1:25:00.4
2	Hardy Schmidtke / John Hall	2005 Mitsubishi Evo	1:28:34.1
3	Josh Shewchuk / Adam Vokes	2008 Subaru WRX STI	1:33:16.9
4	Matt Binczewski / John Kesslar	2004 Subaru WRX STI	1:34:19.1
5	Dave Clark / Billy Irwin	1989 Merkur XR4Ti	1:36:51.6
6	Stu Ford / Robin Chapelski	2006 Subaru WRX	1:39:34.0
7	Justin Bayliff / Christine Bayliff	2008 Mitsubishi Evo	1:40:47.8
8	Travis Nease / Corey Salsbery	2004 Subaru Impreza	1:46:40.9
9	Jason Bailey / Michael Milos	2014 Scion FR-S	1:47:41.9
10	Boris Djordjevic / Chris Kremer	2009 Mitsubishi Evo	1:48:24.6

About Subaru Canada, Inc.
Subaru Canada, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the company markets and distributes Subaru vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of 90 authorized dealers across Canada. For more information, please visit www.subaru.ca or www.pr.subaru.ca or follow @Subaru_Canada on Twitter.

SOURCE Subaru Canada Inc.

Image with caption: "Subaru Rally Team Canada wins the 2015 Pacific Forest Rally in their Rocket Rally-prepared Subaru WRX STI. © 2015 Rocket Rally Racing by Philip Ericksen/Radikal Videos. (CNW Group/Subaru Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C7633_PHOTO_EN_529326.jpg

Image with caption: "Subaru Rally Team Canada wins the 2015 Pacific Forest Rally in their Rocket Rally-prepared Subaru WRX STI. ©2015 Rocket Rally Racing by Philip Ericksen/Radikal Videos. (CNW Group/Subaru Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C7633_PHOTO_EN_529328.jpg

Image with caption: "Subaru Rally Team Canada wins the 2015 Pacific Forest Rally in their Rocket Rally-prepared Subaru WRX STI. ©2015 Rocket Rally Racing by Philip Ericksen/Radikal Videos. (CNW Group/Subaru Canada Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20151026_C7633_PHOTO_EN_529407.jpg

For further information: Julie Lychak, [phone], [email protected]; Daniel Ponzini, [phone], [email protected]; Amyot Bachand, Media Relations, Quebec Region, [phone], [email protected]