Canadian Rally Championship

Canadian Rally Championship
CategoryRallying
CountryCanada
Inaugural season1957
Drivers' championCanada Karel Carré
Official websitewww.carsrally.ca
Current season
Bryan Maplethorpe, in his open class 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX rally car at the 2007 Kananaskis Rally in Alberta, Canada

The Canadian Rally Championship is an automobile rallying championship sanctioned by the Canadian Association of RallySport (CARS) held since 1957 in Canada. The Canadian Rally Championship follows a 2 class format; 2-Wheel Drive, 4/All-Wheel Drive.

Canadian rallying history

The Canadian Rally Championship (CRC) is Canada's only national rallying series. 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Rally Championship, making it the longest running motorsport series in Canada. It has been run continuously since 1957 when Leslie Chelminski and Les Stanley from Montreal shared the very first national rally title in a factory-prepared Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia. In the early days, the rally championship was based on a navigational (also called time-speed-distance or TSD) rally series which, at times, had as many as twenty events in the series. The most notable Canadian car rallies in those days were the Canadian Winter Rally and the Shell 4000. Some Rally champions from the TSD era include Art Dempsey, Bill Silvera, and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductees John Bird, Paul S. Manson, and Bruce D. Simpson.

As the sport gradually changed and adopted the European "stage" format, performance rallying became part of the Canadian motorsport picture. As opposed to TSD rallies, where competitors are required to follow the organizer's schedule, travel below posted speed limits and otherwise adhere to the rules of the public roads they are traveling on, performance rallies incorporate high speed "special stages" on roads closed to vehicles other than the rally cars, which must be specially prepared with full safety equipment. In 1973, the Canadian Rally Championship became based solely on stage rallies, including the Rally of the Tall Pines, which is still the premier event, and is held in November every year.

2018 CRC Season

The CRC consists of 7 national events for 2018. These events take place on gravel or snow-covered roads from coast to coast.

2018 Event Calendar

Round Date Event Club Location Surface
1 February 2–3 Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki CASLL Quebec Maniwaki Ice and snow-covered gravel
2 May 25–27 Rocky Mountain Rally CSCC British Columbia Invermere Gravel
3 June 29–July 1 Rallye Baie Des Chaleurs CRAB Quebec New Richmond Gravel
4 September 6–08 Rallye Defi CASDI Quebec Montpellier, Quebec Gravel
5 September 28–30 Pacific Forest Rally WCRA British Columbia Merritt Gravel
6 November 23–24 Rally of the Tall Pines MLRC Ontario Bancroft Gravel (ice and snow cover possible)
7 December 7–9 Big White Winter Rally WCRA British Columbia Kelowna Ice and snow-covered gravel

2017 Drivers' Championship Final Standings

Place Driver Car Points
1. Antoine L'Estage Subaru 111
2. Brandon Semenuk Subaru 75
3. Leonid Urlichich Subaru 69
4. Nicholas Spencer Subaru 31
5. Nicolas Laverdière Mitsubishi 30
5. Simon Vincent Subaru 30
7. André Leblanc Subaru 27
8. Travis Nease Subaru 22
9. Eric Grochowski Subaru 21
9. Wim van der Poel Ford 21

2017 Co-Drivers' Championship Final Standings

Place Co-Driver Points
1. Alan Ockwell 111
2. John Hall 82
3. Alex Kihurani 55
4. Grzegorz Dorman 35
5. Vincent Trudel 30
6. Leanne Junnila 27
6. René Leblanc 27
8. Liga Kotane 24
8. Patrick Lévesque 24
10. Martin Burnley 22

2017 Manufacturers' Championship Final Standings

Place Team Points
1. Japan Subaru 140
2. Japan Mitsubishi 68
3. United States Ford 17
4. Germany Porsche 4
5. Japan Honda 2

Champions

Year Driver Co-Driver Marque
1957 Leslie Chelminski Les Stanley Volkswagen
1958 Leslie Chelminski
1959 Art Dempsey Bill A. Silvera
1960 Art Dempsey Bill A. Silvera
1961 Bill A. Silvera
1962 George A. Merson John C. Wilson
1963 John Bird Volkswagen
1964 John Bird Volkswagen
1965 John Bird Volkswagen
1966 Bruce Simpson Volvo
1967 Klaus Ross Paul S. Manson Datsun
1968 Keith Ronald John Slade Volkswagen
1969 Bruce Schmidt Betty Schmidt/Paul S. Manson Datsun
1970 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Datsun
1971 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Datsun
1972 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Datsun
1973 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Fiat
1974 Walter Boyce Doug Woods Toyota
1975 Jean-Paul Perusse John Bellefleur Fiat
1976 Jean-Paul Perusse John Bellefleur Fiat
1977 Taisto Heinonen Tom Burgess Toyota
1978 Taisto Heinonen Tom Burgess Toyota
1979 Taisto Heinonen Tom Burgess Toyota
1980 Taisto Heinonen Tom Burgess Toyota
1981 Randy Black Bob Lee Toyota
1982 Taisto Heinonen Tom Burgess Toyota
1983 Randy Black Tom Burgess Nissan
1984 Tim Bendle Mary Crundwell Toyota
1985 Tim Bendle Louis Belanger Toyota
1986 Bo Skowronnek Terry Epp Volvo
1987 Alain Bergeron Martin Headland Toyota
1988 Alain Bergeron Raymond Cadieux Toyota
1989 Paul Choiniere Martin Headland Audi
1990 Tom McGeer Trish Sparrow Audi
1991 Frank Sprongl Dan Sprongl Audi
1992 Tom McGeer Trish Sparrow Audi
1993 Tom McGeer Trish Sparrow Subaru
1994 Frank Sprongl Dan Sprongl Audi
1995 Frank Sprongl Mike Koch Audi
1996 Carl Merrill Yorgi Bittner Eagle
1997 Frank Sprongl Dan Sprongl Audi
1998 Frank Sprongl Dan Sprongl Audi
1999 Frank Sprongl Dan Sprongl Audi
2000 Tom McGeer Mark Williams Subaru
2001 Tom McGeer Mark Williams Subaru
2002 Patrick Richard Ian McCurdy Subaru
2003 Tom McGeer Philip Erickson Subaru
2004 Patrick Richard Nathalie Richard Subaru
2005 Peter Thomson Rod Hendrickson Subaru
2006 Antoine L'Estage Ole Holter Hyundai
2007 Antoine L'Estage Nathalie Richard Hyundai
2008 Patrick Richard Alan Ockwell Subaru
2009 Patrick Richard Alan Ockwell Subaru
2010 Antoine L'Estage Nathalie Richard Mitsubishi
2011 Antoine L'Estage Nathalie Richard Mitsubishi
2012 Antoine L'Estage Nathalie Richard Mitsubishi
2013 Antoine L'Estage Nathalie Richard Mitsubishi
2014 Antoine L'Estage Alan Ockwell Mitsubishi
2015 Antoine L'Estage Alan Ockwell Subaru
2016 Antoine L'Estage Darren Garrod Subaru
2017 Antoine L'Estage Alan Ockwell Subaru
2018 Karel Carré Samuel Joyal Subaru
2019 Karel Carré Samuel Joyal Subaru
2021 André Leblanc René Leblanc Subaru
2022 Jerome Mailloux Philippe Poirier Subaru
2023 Jean-Sébastien Besner Yvan Joyal Ford

Canadian Performance Rally Lifetime Standings

The following standings are based on an individual's placings in the first six overall positions on all Canadian Championship Performance Rallies from 1973 to 2016. There are 13 drivers who have attained Grand Master status (>2000 points)

Driver Lifetime Points CARS Points Career Wins
Antoine L'Estage 6190 1373 49
Taisto Heinonen 5580 1110 40
Frank Sprongl 5000 1065 36
Tom McGeer 4990 1053 21
John Buffum 4900 778 43
Patrick Richard 4160 894 22
Jean-Paul Perusse 3860 784 21
Walter Boyce 2920 593 12
Randy Black 2880 570 10
Sylvain Vincent 2540 571 1
Bo Skowronnek 2390 503 5
Carl Merril 2350 382 8
Bjorn Anderson 2120 420 6