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SS12: Kopecký fastest, Hänninen wins

Neuville secures the final place on the podium

By Franck Drui

16 April 2011 - 14:49

The thrilling battle for first place on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés has ended in victory for Juho Hänninen and Škoda Motorsport. Jan Kopecký was fastest through the final stage but lost out on victory to his Finnish team-mate by 1.5s.

Thierry Neuville completed the stage with the fourth fastest time to secure the final place on the podium in his Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg 207.

Fellow Belgian Freddy Loix took fourth in the overall standings in his BFO Škoda although he was beaten on the stage by Bryan Bouffier.

However, Bouffier, the Rallye Monte-Carlo winner, had to settle for seventh overall behind Andreas Mikkelsen and Guy Wilks, who finished fifth in his Peugeot UK 207 after going third fastest on the stage.

Toni Gardemeister beat rival Giandomenico Basso but lost out on ninth place to the PROTON driver by 0.4s.

Final standings:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
1	Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko	Škoda Fabia S2000	1h40m38.1s
2	Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr	Škoda Fabia S2000	+1.5s
3	Neuville Thierry / Gilsoul Nicolas	Peugeot 207 S2000	+8.2s
4	Loix Freddy / Miclotte Frédéric	Škoda Fabia S2000	+16.7s
5	Wilks Guy / Pugh Phil	Peugeot 207 S2000	+48.3s
6	Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola	Škoda Fabia S2000	+55.6s
7	Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier	Peugeot 207 S2000	+1m00.6s
8	Magalhaes Bruno / Grave Paulo	Peugeot 207 S2000	+1m49.8s
9	Basso Giandomenico / Dotta Mitia	Proton Satria Neo S2000	+2m37.8s
10	Gardemeister Toni / Suominen Tapio	Škoda Fabia S2000	+2m38.2s
11	Vinyes Joan / Mercader Jordi	Suzuki Swift S1600	+5m34.0s
12	Perez Jonathan / Velasco Enrique	Peugeot 207 S2000	+5m52.4s
13	Settembrini Massimiliano / Bonato Corrado	Peugeot 207 S2000	+6m53.7s
14	Antxustegi Gorka / Suárez Gabriel	Suzuki Swift S1600	+7m06.9s
15	Marrero Angel / Marrero Victor	Honda Civic Type R	+7m57.9s