Juho Hänninen to victory

Juho Hänninen (Skoda Fabia S2000) was expected this Saturday morning. The Finn, after having slipped in the rankings on Friday morning, had overcome his opponents one by one on Friday afternoon. This Saturday, he started just 2?2 behind the leader of the event, Bruno Magalhaes (Peugeot 207 S2000). Confident because of his pace, Hänninen joined Magalhaes at the top of the general classification of the Rakkye des Azores from SS13, the first special stage of the day.

SS14 was then canceled due to the presence of cows on the road, but it was only a postponement for the IRC leader. In SS15, he hit a big blow, pushing back to 18?? Magalhaes, hampered in his progress by oil loss problems. Now second, the Portuguese could lose another position, Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia S2000) having less than three seconds of deficit to give Skoda a double.

Far from it, Kris Meeke (Peugeot 207 S2000) knows that he cannot compete for the podium. The Northern Irishman did not keep up with the pace of the best but was able to console himself by stealing fourth place from Andres Mikkelsen (Ford Fiesta S2000). But the title seems to elude him, especially if Juho Hänninen manages to win.