Press Release - July 10, 2016

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Peter Thomson and Frank Sprongl Winners of This Weekend’s Galway Cavendish Forest Rally !

July 10, 2016.- As the fourth of nine rounds of the 2016 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship (ECRC), the Galway Cavendish Forest Rally took place this weekend in Catchacoma, north of Peterborough, Ontario. Contested in perfect weather conditions, rally fans were treated by the participation of former Canadian champion Peter Thomson, co-driven by six-time Canadian champion Frank Sprongl.  This highly decorated team won the event. 

At the start of the event, the anticipated battle held true to form between Thomson/Sprongl in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and contender for the 2016 ECRC title Quebecker Jean-Sébastien Besner, co-driven this time by his sone Marc-André Lamontagne, also in a Lancer Evo. By the end of the first competitive stage, only 1.2 seconds separated the two teams, with the advantage going to the Ontarian duo of Thompson/Sprongl. Unfortunately, Besner/Lamontagne conceded nearly 15 minutes in the subsequent stage, dashing their hopes of victory.  They finished sixth overall after an incredible climb back up the leaderboard, winning all remaining stages after their mishap on stage 2. 

From the third stage onwards, Peter Thomson and Frank Sprongl only needed to manage their lead in order to come out victorious after the 11 scheduled stages. Behind them were Quebeckers Bruno Laverdière and Vincent Trudel, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. After a clean rally, they finished two minutes and ten seconds behind the winners.

The podium was completed by Ontarians Eric Vlasic and Dean Hopkins, in a Subaru Legacy. Vlasic/Hopkins fought off pressure from Ian Crerar, who was back to competition accompanied by championship-winning co-driver Alan Ockwell, in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Crerar/Ockwell finished the event thirty-seven seconds behind Laverdière/Trudel.

In two-wheel drive, Gary Sutherland and Kylee Davis had an impressive rally in their Ford Focus ZX3, winning the class and finishing the event in fifth place overall. The novice team of Philippe Benoît/Maxime Gagnon (Mini Cooper), followed by Michael Ketchum/Savannah Kovacs (Mazda 323) completed the two-wheel drive podium.  In total, nine of the twelve teams finished the event.

The Eastern Canadian Rally Championship (ECRC) consists of nine rounds this season, all at the regional level, spread out between Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces. The following round of the championship, the Ledwidge Lookoff Rally, will take place in two weeks in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, as the only event on the calendar to be held in the Maritimes. 

2016 Calendar