Hänninen tips Meeke for Gran Canaria glory

Juho Hänninen has tipped Kris Meeke to win Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Reigning IRC champion Meeke is currently fourth in the IRC standings after failing to finish Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo and Rally Argentina earlier this season.

But after going fastest during pre-event shakedown, Meeke has served notice of his intentions on the Gran Canaria-based event, which gets underway tomorrow (Friday).

“Guys like Alberto Hevia, Guy Wilks and Thierry Neuville are definitely fast and of course my team-mate, Jan Kopecky, is also quick,” said Hänninen. “But also Kris Meeke – it will be a lot of work for all of us to beat him. As we saw on shakedown this morning his time was really good and it will be difficult to beat him.”

Hänninen is currently five points clear of fellow Škoda Fabia driver Guy Wilks after three rounds. Meeke is 14 points adrift of the Finn.