Having decided not to compete in Rally Russia, the sixth round of this year’s IRC, Peugeot UK’s Kris Meeke still leads the Driver’s Standings but by just one point.
Rally Russia was always one of the IRC rounds which Peugeot UK and Kris Meeke would not contest, so it meant a nail biting weekend watching the other S2000 competitors battle for the rally win.
Both Skoda and Abarth fielded two cars each and Abarth’s gravel specialist, Anton Alen also returned to the team after missing the Belgium Ypres rally. Britain’s Guy Wilks also made the trip to Russia in his Proton Satria Neo and local driver Alexandr Zheludov in his Peugeot 207 S2000 made up the S2000 representation.
Day 1 Overall Result
1 Juho Hanninen Skoda Fabia S2000 28m 28.5s2 Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 +27.5s3 Guy Wilks Proton Satria Neo S2000 +46.5s4 Giandomenico Basso Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +1m 21.0s5 Anton Alen Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +1m 25.0s6 Aleksandr Zheludov Peugeot 207 S2000 +2m 3.9s
SS1 - Hanninen sets the pace on the first stage beating Basso by 7.7 seconds with team mate Kopecky in third place. Anton Alen experienced problems in the stage when water came into the car through the roof vent; he dropped time and finished fifth fastest.
SS2 – Hanninen was fastest again with team mate Kopecky setting the second fastest time and moving into second ahead of Basso.
SS3 – Basso and Alen both pick up punctures in the stage which saw Hanninen fastest again ahead of Kopecky. The misfortune of the Abarth driver promotes Guy Wilks into third place.
SS4 – Hanninen finishes the first day as rally leader and sets another fastest time.
Day 2 Overall Result
1 Juho Hanninen Skoda Fabia S2000 1 hr 11m 55.6s2 Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 +59.8s3 Giandomenico Basso Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +2m 47.4s4 Aleksandr Zheludov Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m 3.7s5 Guy Wilks Proton Satria Neo S2000 +5m 10.2s6 Franz Wittmann Mitsubishi Lancer Evo-9 +6m 35.1s
SS5 – The first stage of the second day was cancelled when the zero car crashed in the stage.
SS6 – Hanninen sets the fastest time with Guy Wilks second quickest.
SS7 – Hanninen sets another fastest time as Basso and Wilks both pick up punctures. Wilks drops over three and a half minutes changing the wheel in the stage and drops to seventh place. Anton Alen moves up to third place.
SS8 – Once again Hanninen is fastest through the stage with Alen second quickest and Kopecky third fastest.
SS9 – Hanninen is fastest but Anton Alen rips a wheel off his Abarth and limps out of the stage. His car, however, will be repaired and he will restart under Superally rules.
SS10 – Is cancelled due to safety concerns due to spectators being on the stage.
Day 3 Overall Result – Final Standings
1 Juho Hanninen Skoda Fabia S2000 1hr 45m 15.2s2 Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 +1m 20.9s3 Giandomenico Basso Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +4m 6.0s3 Guy Wilks Proton Satria Neo S2000 +6m 33.0s5 Anton Alen Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +7m 30.8s6 Franz Wittmann Mitsubishi Lancer Evo-9 +9m 7.1s
SS11 – Anton Alen restarts the rally under Superally rules and sets the fastest time on the stage beating Hanninen by 1.5 seconds.
SS12 – Hanninen takes his ninth stage win out of ten with Alen just 0.3 seconds behind, second fastest.
SS13 – Hanninen fastest 11.8 seconds ahead of Alen with Kopecky third fastest.
SS14 – Hanninen sets fastest time ahead of Alen, Kopecky and Basso in fourth. Guy Wilks picks up a puncture and drops time as he drives out of the stage on a flat tyre.
SS15 – Hanninen finishes of the rally by setting his fourteenth fastest time and winning all the stages but one.
With Jan Kopecky finishing in second in Rally Russia Kris Meeke still leads the Driver’s Standing but now by just one point with Freddy Loix dropping down to third.
Driver’s Standings
1 Kris Meeke Peugeot 207 S2000 30 pts2 Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 29 pts3 Freddy Loix Peugeot 207 S2000 24 pts4 Giandomenico Basso Abarth Grande Punto S2000 17 pts5 Nicolas Vouilloz Peugeot 207 S2000 14 pts
Peugeot still leads the Manufacturer’s standings but Skoda has now moved into second place, pushing Mitsubishi down to third.
Manufacturer’s Standings
1 Peugeot 68 pts2 Skoda 43 pts3 Mitsubishi (Ralliart) 41 pts4 Abarth 24 pts5 Proton 5 pts6 Honda 1 pt
The next round is the Rali Vinho Madeira on the 30th July to the 1st August.
