Hanninen, (almost) total victory

Juho Hanninen had his motivation intact at the start of Rally Russia, wanting to take advantage of the absence of Peugeot 207 by Meeke, Vouilloz and Loix. From Thursday and Friday, the Finn was able to show all his determination by snatching the scratch time in all the specials on the program, leaving little doubt about the identity of the winner.

During the last stage, Hanninen eased off a little, leaving the scratch time of the first special to Anton Alen, before taking the torch again in the last four specials. During the twelve special stages he won, the Finn widened a significant gap, finishing 80 seconds ahead of his teammate and more than 4 minutes ahead of Giandomenico Basso.

Juho Hanninen thus offers the first victory in IRC for Skoda, which takes advantage of it to achieve a double which was never in doubt from the first stages. Third and sixth, Giandomenico Basso and Anton Alen gave the Abarth Grande Punto their best result.

Special stage winner: Hanninen (SS1 to SS4, SS6 to SS9, SS12 to SS15), Alen (SS11)
Two stages canceled: SS5 and SS10
Leader: Hanninen (SS1 to SS15)