SCCA ProRally Points Leader Pat Richard

In 2001, Canadian Pat Richard literally burst onto the American rallying scene, his mind-boggling jump over a blind crest near the end of LSPR's famous Brockway Mountain stage leaving everyone there in a state of shock. His Subaru flew further on its first bounce than most of the competitors flew over the jump.

Even though he had been tagged as one to watch and won both the U.S. and Canadian Production GT titles the year before, his now-notorious flight cemented his reputation as one of the continent's fastest and most spectacular drivers. And closed the area to spectators from that day on. (Check out the video at www.PatrickRichard.com.)

Now he's back in the spotlight again. When SCC caught up with the 31-year-old Richard at STPR, he was looking for his sixth national win in a row, having won the first three U.S. ProRally events in his privately entered Group N Impreza and the first two rounds of the Canadian Championship in his Open Class Subaru Canada Rally Team WRX STi.

"I'd seen rallying on TV," says Richard. "And thought 'That's what me and my buddies do all the time anyway.' I wanted a chance to do it full-on." So in 1999, he put a cage in his street car, a normally aspirated Impreza 2.5RS, and showed up at his first event. He finished fifth overall in his first Canadian National. The next year's Production GT titles caught the attention of Subaru Canada and in 2001, he was invited to join the Subaru Canada Rally Team. In 2002, driving a Group N car, he won four events, the Canadian national title and the North American Rally Cup Group N title. And in an effort to learn WRC-style pace noting, he crossed the pond to compete in the UK's Peugeot Cup.

In 2003, with support from Subaru Rally Team Canada, OMP and Globalstar, Richard competed in seven rounds of the Production Car (GpN) World Rally Championship as well as the Canadian Championship.

"The WRC was a fantastic experience. Our whole mission was to gain some experience and continue my rally apprenticeship in the rally world. There were a lot of top name drivers, but when everyone's in a Group N car, all bets are off. Unfortunately, we suffered a lot of mechanical failures; I think I had six in a row. I definitely know that we here in North America don't give ourselves enough credit. When the car was running, we would always be in fifth or sixth place. The ongoing joke was we were the first unknowns. I hope that someday I'll get to compete at that level again. I just love rallying."

Richard's flamboyant driving style has calmed somewhat this year. He is faster and smoother but also less prone to take unnecessary chances. "I like to think my experience in the WRC matured me a bit," he says. "Those who have followed me over the last few years know I've had some spectacular accidents. This year I've been trying to take the attitude: 'you don't have to win every stage, it just matters where you are at the end.' I believe in myself. I know I can go quicker, but it's really a matter of tempering your speed to make it to the end and only taking risks when you need to. These rallies are long events."

Richard was taught three rules of thumb when he started rallying.

1. Less car, more events. It doesn't matter what kind of car you drive, don't spend money on your car, get out to events.

2. Hang out with rally teams. Everybody is always looking for service help and events are always looking for volunteers. If you go to the event, you will get hooked up and you will find a way to get there yourself.

3. Don't give up. Persevere. If you believe in yourself and are committed, anything can happen.

Rule three is testing Richard this year. A program to run in the WRC again this year fell apart at the last minute. About the same time, the Subaru Canada Rally Team decided to sell its cars and build new ones so Richard bought his Group N WRC car.

"I got it four days before Sno*Drift and took it down just to see what would happen," he says. "We won, which was a surprise for all of us. I didn't have time to put together a proper marketing program so we've been taking things as they come. To be honest, our reserves were spent at Rim. Subaru of America's contingency program is what's keeping us alive and allowing us to go to the U.S. rallies. It's been a bit of a slog for us. I go into every event knowing if something bad happens, I'm not going to make it to the next one. I've been driving a bit cautiously and it seems to have paid off. Maybe I need to drive with a little lump in my throat hoping I don't wreck the car. That part seems to be working out all right."

The team sold its spare gearbox to get to STPR but Richard has faith. "I've never seen anyone watch a rally car go past and say, 'Oh, that's lame.' Everyone is like, 'Wow! That's the coolest thing I've ever seen.' We just need to get the commercial side of America behind rallying."

Amen.

Race ReportSCCA Prorally Championship Presented By Hot WheelsRound #4:Susquehannock Trail ProRally, June 5, 2004* Location: Wellsbro, Pennsylvania

* Details: Leg One; Fours stages, 38.5 stage miles. Legs Two and Three; Three stages (repeated) 44.72 stage miles, Total; 127.94 stage miles. A one-day event run on beautifully maintained Pennsylvania State Forest roads along the "Grand Canyon of the East." The tree-lined clay and gravel roads are very fast-and very slippery when wet. STPR is home of the Subaru Splash, the famous water crossing that ends SS1.

For the fourth time in as many rallies, a Group N car has finished atop the ProRally leader board. Only this time, it was Shane Mitchell, with Glenn Patterson calling the way, spraying the bubbly as Patrick Richard saw his dream of winning four in a row spoiled by a cracked brake caliper. At least he and sister Nathalie finished; more than half (18 out of 35) of the Pro field didn't. Thomas Lawless and Jason Gillespie were second in their Open Class EVO. Paul Choiniere treated co-driver Cindy Krolikowski to her first-ever podium finish as the pair warmed up for Pikes Peak, bringing their 2WD Group 5 Dodge SRT-4 home in third overall.

Like last year, competitors woke to rain Saturday after Friday's dry practice stage. Thirty or 40 tons of gravel made Pine Creek passable and despite battling a nasty cold, Richard set fast time just ahead of fellow Canadians Frank and Dan Sprongl. The water crossing was unusually kind this year, claiming only two cars. But the overnight rains had left STPR's usually dusty roads covered with a layer of well-oiled slop and the attrition began.

The Sprongls led the way in their Open Class EVO helped by a recalcitrant defroster in the EVO of Leon Styles and John Dillon and an especially tricky downhill 3-Left between the finish boards of SS3. Styles hit on the right side, Richard spun and hit the left side, knocking out the windows and crumpling his Subaru's exhaust. Poor Piotr Wiktroczyk and Mark McAllister could only watch as their WRX burned to the ground in the same spot. Seems with the car up on its side against a tree, the power-steering reservoir emptied on the hot turbo and that was that.

The Sprongls were next, holding up Richard on SS5, Leg Two's first stage and finally parking it with a sour motor. The Richards inherited the lead but had lost their brakes by the end of SS6, overshooting a T and losing 45 seconds. Mitchell continued to drive clean and quickly set fast time on SS5 and 6. The Richards were able to pinch off the line to the leaking caliper and set fast time heading into the dinner break on SS7, but picked up a nine-minute penalty during the roadside repairs, taking them out of contention.

Choiniere and Krolikowski were comfortable as a team and hounded Doug Shepard and Pete Gladyzs through the first two legs until the lead SRT-4 retired on SS8. Leon Styles and John Dillon, so close at Rim before a loosened turbo hose cost them the victory, were slowed by a rear diff that made the car nearly undriveable. They limped through the last three stages hoping to score whatever points they could. Brian Hourt struggled with locking rear brakes and a tranny with no fourth gear but finished, the only one in Group 2 to survive.-Tim McKinney