Canadian Rally Championship Explained

Category:Rallying
Inaugural:1957
Country/Region:Canada
Champion Driver: Karel Carré
Current Season:2019 Canadian Rally Championship season

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

RoundDateEventClubLocationSurface
1February 2–3Rallye Perce-Neige ManiwakiCASLL ManiwakiIce and snow-covered gravel
2May 25–27Rocky Mountain RallyCSCC InvermereGravel
3June 29–July 1Rallye Baie Des ChaleursCRAB New RichmondGravel
4September 6–08 Rallye DefiCASDI Montpellier, QuebecGravel
5September 28–30Pacific Forest RallyWCRA MerrittGravel
6November 23–24Rally of the Tall PinesMLRC BancroftGravel (ice and snow cover possible)
7December 7–9Big White Winter RallyWCRA KelownaIce and snow-covered gravel

2017 Drivers' Championship Final Standings

Place DriverCarPoints
1. Antoine L'EstageSubaru111
2. Brandon SemenukSubaru75
3. Leonid UrlichichSubaru69
4. Nicholas SpencerSubaru31
5. Nicolas LaverdièreMitsubishi30
5. Simon VincentSubaru30
7. André LeblancSubaru27
8. Travis NeaseSubaru22
9. Eric GrochowskiSubaru21
9. Wim van der PoelFord21

2017 Co-Drivers' Championship Final Standings

Place Co-DriverPoints
1. Alan Ockwell111
2. John Hall82
3. Alex Kihurani55
4. Grzegorz Dorman35
5. Vincent Trudel30
6. Leanne Junnila27
6. René Leblanc27
8. Liga Kotane24
8. Patrick Lévesque24
10. Martin Burnley22

2017 Manufacturers' Championship Final Standings

Place TeamPoints
1. 140
2. 68
3. 17
4. 4
5. 2

Champions

YearDriverCo-DriverMarque
1957Leslie ChelminskiLes Stanley Volkswagen
1958Leslie Chelminski
1959Art DempseyBill A. Silvera
1960Art DempseyBill A. Silvera
1961Bill A. Silvera
1962George A. MersonJohn C. Wilson
1963John BirdVolkswagen
1964John BirdVolkswagen
1965John BirdVolkswagen
1966Bruce SimpsonVolvo
1967Klaus RossPaul S. MansonDatsun
1968Keith RonaldJohn SladeVolkswagen
1969Bruce SchmidtBetty Schmidt/Paul S. MansonDatsun
1970Walter BoyceDoug WoodsDatsun
1971Walter BoyceDoug WoodsDatsun
1972Walter BoyceDoug WoodsDatsun
1973Walter BoyceDoug WoodsFiat
1974Walter BoyceDoug WoodsToyota
1975Jean-Paul PerusseJohn BellefleurFiat
1976Jean-Paul PerusseJohn BellefleurFiat
1977Taisto HeinonenTom BurgessToyota
1978Taisto HeinonenTom BurgessToyota
1979Taisto HeinonenTom BurgessToyota
1980Taisto HeinonenTom BurgessToyota
1981Randy BlackBob LeeToyota
1982Taisto HeinonenTom BurgessToyota
1983Randy BlackTom BurgessNissan
1984Tim BendleMary CrundwellToyota
1985Tim BendleLouis BelangerToyota
1986Bo SkowronnekTerry EppVolvo
1987Alain BergeronMartin HeadlandToyota
1988Alain BergeronRaymond CadieuxToyota
1989Paul ChoiniereMartin HeadlandAudi
1990Tom McGeerTrish SparrowAudi
1991Frank SpronglDan SpronglAudi
1992Tom McGeerTrish SparrowAudi
1993Tom McGeerTrish SparrowSubaru
1994Frank SpronglDan SpronglAudi
1995Frank SpronglMike KochAudi
1996Carl MerrillYorgi BittnerEagle
1997Frank SpronglDan SpronglAudi
1998Frank SpronglDan SpronglAudi
1999Frank SpronglDan SpronglAudi
2000Tom McGeerMark WilliamsSubaru
2001Tom McGeerMark WilliamsSubaru
2002Patrick RichardIan McCurdySubaru
2003Tom McGeerPhilip EricksonSubaru
2004Patrick RichardNathalie RichardSubaru
2005Peter ThomsonRod HendricksonSubaru
2006Antoine L'EstageOle HolterHyundai
2007Antoine L'EstageNathalie RichardHyundai
2008Patrick RichardAlan OckwellSubaru
2009Patrick RichardAlan OckwellSubaru
2010Antoine L'EstageNathalie RichardMitsubishi
2011Antoine L'EstageNathalie RichardMitsubishi
2012Antoine L'EstageNathalie RichardMitsubishi
2013Antoine L'EstageNathalie RichardMitsubishi
2014Antoine L'EstageAlan OckwellMitsubishi
2015Antoine L'EstageAlan OckwellSubaru
2016Antoine L'EstageDarren GarrodSubaru
2017Antoine L'EstageAlan OckwellSubaru
2018Karel CarréSamuel JoyalSubaru
2019Karel CarréSamuel JoyalSubaru
2021André LeblancRené LeblancSubaru
2022Jerome MaillouxPhilippe PoirierSubaru
2023Jean-Sébastien BesnerYvan JoyalFord

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)

DriverLifetime PointsCARS PointsCareer Wins
Antoine L'Estage6190137349
Taisto Heinonen5580111040
Frank Sprongl5000106536
Tom McGeer4990105321
John Buffum490077843
Patrick Richard416089422
Jean-Paul Perusse386078421
Walter Boyce292059312
Randy Black288057010
Sylvain Vincent25405711
Bo Skowronnek23905035
Carl Merril23503828
Bjorn Anderson21204206

External links