Rally background
In 1999, Nathalie went to spectate her brother, Pat, compete in one of his first rallies. She was instantly hooked and within weeks, started to manage his team as he contested the full Canadian and American series. After occasionally filling in as his co-driver, followed by an almost 4 year stint in Australia, Nathalie became Pat's regular teammate in 2004. Together they won the Triple Crown by winning the Canadian Rally Championship, the SCCA (American) Championship, and the North American Rally Cup in the same year.
In 2005, the Richard siblings won the Rally America series (formerly known as the SCCA series) and Nathalie also won the North American Rally Championship. The next year, the siblings were selected to competed in the inaugural rally competition at X Games.
In 2006, Nathalie started co-driving for Antoine L'Estage. Together, the duo won four Canadian national championship titles, six North American titles, and one American title. The following year, and again in 2009, Richard competed in the X Games with L'Estage before co-drivers were eliminated from X Games rally competition altogether.
In 2010, Richard and L'Estage won the Triple Crown, Nathalie's second time. She remains the only person to have ever won the Triple Crown more than once (2004 & 2010). After this successful year, the pair were named as part of the 2010 All-America Auto Racing First Team, voted in by the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association. Nathalie was the only female to be voted in. Other members of this 2010 team include Dario Franchitti, Kyle Busch, Will Power, and John Force.
In 2012, after more success on both sides of the border, Richard and L'Estage were presented with the Gilles-Villeneuve Trophy by Auto Sport Québec. Nathalie left the team in late 2013 and reunited with her brother on Subaru Rally Team Canada for what ended up being the last two competitions of his career.
In 2014, when Pat suddenly had to retire due to health reasons, Subaru Rally Team Canada hired former Production World Rally driver Martin Rowe (Isle of Man) with whom Nathalie then co-drove for the season. At the same time, she co-drove for a New Zealander in the Colombian Rally Championship and occasional drivers in the U.S.
In 2015 and 2016 Nathalie co-drove for American Ramana Lagemann (in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 and a Porsche 911) and Czech George Plsek (in a Mitsubishi Evo).