With a stacked field of previous National Champions, international talent, and top level competitors, the 2024 edition of Rallye Perce Neige Maniwaki kicked off the 2024 Canadian Rally Championship in style. With an unusually warm winter, the roads were a mix of dry tarmac and ice-covered gravel, leaving no room for error. New for 2024 was a two-day format, featuring over 260km of competitive stages.

Every competitor had their eye on one entry, the return of 10-time Champion, Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Alan Ockwell. After several years out of the sport, the teams were eager to see if they could give him a run for the top step. It was soon clear after the first few stages that Antoine had lost none of his speed. He balanced the need for speed with learning a new car and getting to the finish, to take a commanding win.

Reigning champions, Jean-Sebastien Besner and Yvan Joyal were keen to continue their recent show of speed. They set quick times throughout the event, but suffered from gearbox and fuel pressure issues in the latter part of the day that put them into survival mode. Thankfully they had a big enough margin and were able to hold onto second place.

Alexandre Moreau and Ian Guite looked to get their season off to a good start for another run at the championship. Opting into an arrive and drive package with Test Racing, they warmed up quickly to the new car and set solid times. When Jason Bailey put his Fiesta into the snowbank, Moreau capitalized, moving up into third position and holding off the pressure from behind.

In 2WD class, the fast stages favoured Chris Greenhouse in his Dodge SRT, and he pulled out a massive lead. However, tricky road conditions and a momentary lapse in focus meant another leading car was making a trip to the snowbank. This promoted Hans Larose and Alexandre Pesant into the class lead, where they stayed mistake free and claimed the win in their VW Golf. Mathieu Royer and Alyssa Voyzelle-Montminy claimed second.

Honorable mention to Marc-Andre Brisebois and Marie-France Trepanier who dropped to 34^th position on Friday night due to a navigational error but clawed all the way back up to 5^th overall by the rally finish, capturing valuable points for the season.

The next round is the Rocky Mountain Rally in Invermere, BC on June 1-2 for the first of a double-header west coast swing.