ŠKODA Motorsport’s Juho Hänninen has taken back the time he lost on stage seven of Sata Rallye Açores by winning stage eight, Feteiras. As a result his lead on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event over Andreas Mikkelsen is now 10.1s. “I was trying on this one,” he said.
Mikkelsen reported dropping time on an uphill section following a sluggish exit out of a junction. Nevertheless he still managed to set the second quickest time in his ŠKODA UK Motorsport entry.
In the battle for third position, Jan Kopecký has closed to within 2.4s of Peugeot Sport Portugal’s Bruno Magalhães.
The 7.47-kilometre stage was cancelled this morning when cows were spotted on sections of the route.
Overall positions after SS8
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 47m56.3s |
| 2 | Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +10.1s |
| 3 | Magalhaes Bruno / Grave Paulo | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +30.4s |
| 4 | Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +32.8s |
| 5 | Sandell Patrik / Parmander Staffan | Škoda Fabia S2000 | +1m35.9s |
| 6 | Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1m48.0s |
| 7 | Moura Ricardo / Eiró Sancho | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +2m07.3s |
| 8 | Lopes Vítor / Magalhăes Hugo | Subaru Impreza Sti | +3m07.1s |
| 9 | Pascoal Vítor / Ramalho Luis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | +4m05.7s |
| 10 | Vale Pedro / Medeiros Rui | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +4m25.7s |
| 11 | Silva Sérgio / Cordeiro Nelson | Subaru Impreza Sti | +4m30.9s |
| 12 | Nutahara Fumio / Ichino Hakaru | Subaru Impreza R4 | +4m47.0s |
| 13 | Lousado Rui / Assunçăo Luis | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +5m34.8s |
| 14 | Maciel Paulo / Gouveira Filipe | Citroën Saxo VTS | +5m52.2s |
| 15 | Raoux Jean-Michel / Mazotti Francis | Renault Clio R3 | +7m09.0s |