Juho Hänninen has taken the lead of Sata Rallye Açores after beating rival Bruno Magalhães on stage 15, the 21.94-kilometre Tronqueira run. But while the Škoda Motorsport driver celebrated there was despair for Peugeot Sport Portugal’s Magalhães (pictured) who completed the stage with fluid leaking from his car.
He is now 18 seconds behind Hänninen and only 2.6s in front of third-placed Jan Kopecký with one stage remaining, the two-kilometre Grupo Marques superspecial, before service.
Bernardo Sousa won the stage, his first in the IRC, by an impressive 4.4s in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta.
Overall positions after SS15:
| Pos. | Team | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 1h53m16.2s |
| 02 | Magalhaes Bruno / Magalhaes Carlos | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +18.0s |
| 03 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +20.6s |
| 04 | Meeke Kris / Nagle Paul | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m10.9s |
| 05 | Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +1m21.9s |
| 06 | Sousa Bernardo / Silva Nuno | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +2m25.3s |
| 07 | Moura Ricardo / Eiró Sancho | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m13.9s |
| 08 | Vale Pedro / Medeiros Rui | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII | +8m08.0s |
| 09 | Peres Pedro / Ferreira Tiago | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +8m40.6s |
| 10 | Silva Sérgio / Leal Paulo | Subaru Impreza STI | +8m56.5s |
| 11 | Pascoal Vítor / Castro Mário | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +10m53.2s |
| 12 | Carmo Ricardo / Reis Justino | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +11m31.6s |
| 13 | Torres Rui / Martins Marco | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +11m52.7s |
| 14 | Rego Paulo / Carreiro Abel | Subaru Impreza STI | +12m23.7s |
| 15 | Maciel Paulo / Gouveia Filipe | Citroën Saxo VTS | +13m31.7s |