Press Release - August 8, 2016

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Another Win for Jean-Sébastien Besner, This Time at the Black Bear Rally

August 8, 2016.- The Black Bear Rally, sixth of nine rounds in the 2016 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship (ECRC), was held this past weekend in Gilmour, Ontario. An event with a rich history, its winners include drivers like six-time Canadian champion Frank Sprongl and the legendary American action sports star Travis Pastrana.

This time, the honours went to Jean-Sébastien Besner and his co-driver Marc-André Lamontagne, at the wheel of their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. Already solidly leading the ECRC championship heading into this round, Besner earned the fastest time on seven of the nine competitive rally stages. At the finish, the Besner/Lamontagne duo recorded a gap of one minute and twenty seconds ahead of former Canadian Production Class champion and Californian resident Andrew Comrie-Picard. Co-driven by Albertan Brian O'Kane, the pair was competing in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV.

On the gravel roads in and around Gilmour, novice driver Simon Vincent (Subaru WRX STI) once again displayed his talent by crossing the finish line just over two minutes behind the winners.  Co-driven this time by American Aaron Crescenti, Vincent convincingly claimed top spot among the Novice drivers.

Quebeckers Bruno Laverdière and Hubert Gaudreau (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo XIII) and New Yorkers Alex Kuklov and Chris Rosato (Subaru Impreza RS) completed the Top 5 in an event that hosted fourteen different teams. 

Top Ontarian team of Eric Vlasic and Bruce Leonard brought their Subaru Legacy to sixth place ahead of Laurens Wit/Jonathan Cox (Subaru WRX STI) and two-wheel drive winners Zoltan Kovacs/Guy Boudreau, who earned their second ECRC 2WD victory this season driving a Mitsubishi Lancer.

In the overall standings, Jean-Sébastien Besner dominates the fight for the 2016 title after claiming three victories (with three different co-drivers !)  in the season’s first six events.  In two-wheel drive, Philippe Benoît, who placed second at the Black Bear Rally, takes the helm of the championship standings ahead of Zoltan Kovacs and Simon Dubé. With three rounds left to contest, nothing is finalized yet.

The next event, Rallye Défi, will be held on September 10th in Montpellier, in the Papineau municipality (Outaouais region of Québec). This will be the seventh round of the nine-event season of the 2016 Eastern Canadian Rally Championship.  

2016 Calendar