.- Tom McGeer from Georgetown, ON
claimed his third win in a row at the Pacific
Forest Rally in Merritt, BC on Saturday. The
fifth round of the Canadian Rally Championship
presented by Subaru and Yokohama was the toughest
win for McGeer in his Subaru WRX. |
Mitsubishi drivers Sylvain and Philippe
Erickson from Gatineau, Quebec lead the rally
from the second special stage. |
Going into the final stage of the Rally,
McGeer and co-driver Jeff Becker from New
York were pushing hard to close Erickson's
30-second lead. McGeer, driving flat out,
slid into a tree. He was able to recover and
finish the stage with only minor body damage.
Erickson wasn't as lucky. A crash just 4km
from the end took him out of the rally. |
Only 15 of the 38 cars that entered completed
all 13 stages of the Pacific Forest Rally.
Janusz Komorowski and co-driver Tomasz Karzynski,
both from Calgary, AB finished second. Gord
Olsen from Brooks, AB and co-driver Dave Shindle
from Falls Church, VA won the Group 2 class,
placing third overall. |
McGeer's win puts him firmly in the lead
for the Canadian championship. With 72 points
he has a 37-point lead over Komorowski and
Patrick Richard who are tied for second with
35 points. Erickson is close behind with 32
points. McGeer's rivals all failed to earn
points at the Pacific Forest Rally. |
Defending Canadian Rally Champ, Patrick
Richard from Vancouver, B.C. suffered from
differential problems in the early stages
of the rally. During the first service, Richard's
crew changed the transmission in his Subaru
WRX Sti in 16 minutes. The new transmission
seemed to be working fine and Richard set
the fastest time on Stage 5, beating Erickson
by 12 seconds. But as Richard crossed the
finish line he noticed smoke coming from the
engine. He was able to safely stop the car
and put out the fire, but it was the end of
the rally for Richard and co-driver Ian McCurdy
from Whistler, BC. |
The Canadian Rally Championship continues
with Round 6 at the Rally Baie Des Chaleurs
July 3rd-5th. |
Photographs of the Top Ten Drivers are available
for download at www.morisoncom.com/pfr
For more information contact:
Paul Westwick at 604-617-4132
Or check out the rally website:www.pacificforestrally.com.
A complete listing of results is available
at www.rallyscoring.com |
Attached Photo Credit:
Keith Morison
Morison Communications
www.morisoncom.com
403.282.0837
|