🏁 The Year of Extremes: Dust & Diagrams' 2025 Rally Sport Ontario Wrap-Up!
What an incredible inaugural year it has been for Dust & Diagrams! I set out to provide coverage of the thrilling rally sport scene in Ontario, and 2025 delivered a season of spectacular highs, intense competition, and, most memorably, an endless parade of extreme weather. From the mud-soaked stages of spring to the dusty bowls of summer, and the icy grip of late fall, the action was relentless across the OPRC, KWRC Rallycross, and the ORRC.
🏆 Ontario Performance Rally Championship (OPRC): A Battle Against the Elements
The OPRC calendar in 2025 proved to be a true test of endurance, where competitors faced Mother Nature's fury at every turn. Dust & Diagrams covered three pivotal events this year.
Voyageurs: The Delayed Masterpiece
Sidelined by a heavy ice-rain storm that shut down the area local to the rally, the Rally of the Voyageurs made a spectacular return in May. The vibe was electric—a collective sense of relief and excitement that the event was finally on. The challenging stages in the Catchacoma region saw Trevor Pougnet and Ryan Rouleau in their Subaru WRX STI take the overall win, demonstrating blistering pace from the start. They clinched victory by 21.5 seconds over Michael Dimkovski and Sam Roxon, a sign of the razor-thin margins at the top. The event was a spectacular showcase of skilled driving on fast gravel, providing some of the most dramatic photo opportunities of the year.
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Voyageurs Vibe: Speed, and spectacular springtime gravel rallying.
Key Results: Overall Winners: Trevor Pougnet / Ryan Rouleau
Black Bear: Heat, Dust, and Drought
Moving into August, the Black Bear Rally presented a completely different, yet equally extreme, challenge: searing heat and a severe drought. The conditions were brutally dusty, reducing visibility and turning the stages into a true test of car reliability and driver focus. Despite the conditions, Trevor Pougnet and Ryan Rouleau managed to repeat their winning performance, securing their second ECRC victory of the season. They capitalized by defeating early leaders Jeremy Drake and Deric Jackson & holding off a charging Mathieu Dubé and Marie-France Desmarais. The event highlights were the sheer tenacity of the teams battling the stifling dust and heat, a stark reminder of the physical demands of rally sport.
Black Bear Conditions: Extreme heat, blinding dust, and non-stop attrition.
Key Results: Overall Winners: Trevor Pougnet / Ryan Rouleau
The season culminated with the legendary Tall Pines Rally. True to its reputation, the event delivered its own brand of extreme weather: a punishing mix of cold, snow, ice, and patches of deep mud on the more open stages. This volatility demanded constant adaptation from drivers and co-drivers alike.
As an OPRC event, Tall Pines was a fantastic spectacle, but it also held massive significance as the second-last round of the Canadian Rally Championship (CRC). Mexican champions Ricardo Cordero and Marco Hernandez put on a masterclass of discipline and blistering speed in their Citroen C3 R5.
Their commanding win at Tall Pines was absolutely key, as it allowed Cordero to tie for the CRC points lead heading into the final event, the Big White Rally, where he ultimately clinched the 2025 CRC national title. His performance in the constantly changing conditions at Tall Pines was nothing short of brilliant!
Tall Pines Conditions: Freezing cold, snow, ice, and unpredictable mud.
CRC Significance: Cordero's win tied him for the CRC lead, setting up his eventual championship victory.
Key Results: Overall Winners: Ricardo Cordero & Marco Hernandez
⚙️ KWRC Rallycross: The Dirt-Track Gauntlet
The KWRC Rallycross season at the Eagles Nest facility was a rollercoaster, perfectly mirroring the extremes of the year. The series saw a dramatic shift in conditions, transitioning from full-on mud-slinging events in the spring to the absolute dust-bowl conditions of the summer.
Unfortunately, the series was forced to run a shortened season. Events were moved to better support the OPRC calendar, and two were cancelled outright due to heavy rain, making the course unusable.
Adding to the difficulty, one summer event had to be rescheduled to avoid extreme dust, a necessary step for the safety and well-being of the organizers working in the clouds of powder, and for local residents living near the track.
The variety of weather meant that the overall class winners (whose detailed results can be found on the KWRC website at www.kwrc.on.ca) had to prove their ability to handle every conceivable loose-surface condition.
It was a season of true versatility for the grassroots heroes of Ontario rally sport.
🧭 ORRC Navigational Rallies: Precision in the Wild
The Ontario Road Rally Championship (ORRC) events, like the Snowy Safari Rally and the Automapic, showcased the other side of rallying: the demanding discipline of Time-Speed-Distance (TSD) navigational competition. The Snowy Safari was particularly memorable for its extreme winter conditions—a testament to the commitment required for this sport. The Automapic maintained its theme of being a challenging, map-oriented tour across picturesque South-Western Ontario roads.
In a move to strengthen the series, the navigational rally clubs have announced that they will be reducing the number of events to six for the 2026 season. This streamlined calendar aims to focus resources and increase participation, ensuring a high-quality, sustainable championship for the future of navigational rallying in Ontario.
❤️ The Rally Family: An Adventure Continues
It has been an amazing first season and an incredible adventure covering all three genres of rally motor sport in Ontario. Being out on the stages, up close and personal, has been an immense privilege. The real highlight of this journey has been engaging with the amazing community of Rally Sport Ontario—the dedicated competitors, the tirelessly committed stewards, the quick-thinking course car drivers, and the passionate fans. The spirit of this community is what makes the sport truly exceptional.
Thank you to everyone who made 2025 so memorable.
I will be back in 2026, camera and notebook in hand, to do it all over again!
Looking forward to 2026!
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