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Flying Finn Juho Hanninen has won the Rally Russia commandingly by more than two minutes on his debut in a Super 2000 car. Despite having only tested his Peugeot 207 S2000 for 60 kilometres prior to the start of the event, he took the lead from the very first stage and held it right up to the end.
 “I am actually very surprised to win,” said Hanninen, who first competed on the IRC this year on the Rally Portugal, finishing fifth in a Group N Mitsubishi. “There was a lot for me to learn about the car and the event, but on the second day in particular I felt a lot more comfortable with it. It’s a lot of fun and I hope to have the chance to drive it again.”
Due to some wet weather before the start of the event, the roads on the Rally Russia were extremely challenging, with some big rocks appearing particularly during the second run through the stages. These caused a number of punctures and incidents, including two punctures for last year’s winner Anton Alen on the opening day. “Without them, maybe I could have challenged for another win,” said the Abarth driver. “But Juho was very quick: some of the times he set were incredible.”
 Alen’s team mate Giandomenico Basso made it two Abarths on the podium, after a strong run in which he steered clear of trouble.
The Peugeot Belgium cars of Freddy Loix and Nicolas Vouilloz also started the rally with the intention of a solid points finish. Fifth place for Vouilloz now places the Frenchman in the joint lead of the drivers’ championship with Luca Rossetti – who should be back for the next IRC round in Madeira at the end of the month.
 Sixth-placed Jan Kopecky would have been a definite podium contender had it not been for a front-left puncture on his Peugeot on the longest stage of the rally yesterday that he was forced to stop and change. Brice Tirabassi, also driving a Peugeot, finished seventh despite suffering from a slipping clutch from the very start of the event.
Mitsubishi driver and local man Oleg Antropov was the top Russian home in eighth place. Retirements included former World Champion Didier Auriol, who was out with brake problems at the start of day two, and privateer Abarth driver Dani Sola, who stopped with an engine problem on the opening day.
Englishman Guy Wilks was leading the IRC 2WD Cup commandingly until he was forced out by a tranmission problem with just two stages to go.
 The Peugeot 206 of Vadim Mikhailov consequently won the two-wheel drive category. IRC Motorsport Development Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas said: “It’s been another closelyfought rally, in which we at Eurosport Events have been very happy to seef the emergence of an exciting new talent in the shape of Juho Hanninen. He seems set to be the latest in the long line of Finns that have lifted the profile of the sport, and we hope to see him out on the
IRC again soon.”
IRC results after SS12, Rally Russia
1 Hanninen/Markkula Peugeot 207 S2000 2h14m27.0s
2 Alen/Alanne Abarth Grande Punto +2m11.2s
3 Basso/Dotta Abarth Grande Punto +2m44.2s
4 Loix/Buysmans Peugeot 207 S2000 +3m29.4s
5 Vouilloz/Klinger Peugeot 207 S2000 +5m30.8s
6 Kopecky/Stary Peugeot 207 S2000 +6m54.4s
7 Tirabassi/Gordon Peugeot 207 S2000 +9m03.2s
8 Antropov/Sharipov Mitsubishi Lancer (N) +17m06.8s
9 Zimin/Grudina Mitsubishi Lancer (N) +21m00.8s
10 Yadov/Edimov Mitsubishi Lancer (N) +24m13.7s
Two-wheel drive winner: Vadim Mikhailov (Peugeot 206 XS)
Standings
1 Rossetti 26 1 Peugeot 69
2 Vouilloz 26 2 Abarth 33
3 Loix 16 3 Mitsubishi 2
4 Kopecky 15 4 Volkswagen 5
5 Hanninen & Alen & Basso 14
8 Casier 5
9 Travaglia & Snijers 4
11 Magalhaes & Sola 3
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