Hanninen to celebrate 2010 IRC title in Scotland

Juho Hanninen will celebrate his Intercontinental Rally Challenge title success on RACMSA Rally of Scotland after Skoda Motorsport decided not to enter his team-mate, Jan Kopecky, on the penultimate round of the series next month (15-17 October).

Hanninen’s second place on last week’s Rallye Sanremo put him within touching distance of the prestigious IRC drivers’ title. However, Kopecky still maintained a mathematical chance of snatching the honours from the Finn on count back, providing he won the final two rounds and Hanninen faltered.

Although entries for Rally of Scotland will remain open until 5 October, Skoda has confirmed it will only send a single car to the Perth-based event for Hanninen, which will enable the 29-year-old to enjoy a high-speed lap of honour on the gravel contest.

"We are all happy with this result because Juho is definitely the right champion of this year’s IRC," said Skoda team manager Pavel Hortek.

Hanninen won’t be officially crowned champion until after the FxPro Cyprus Rally in November, when a formal presentation will be made to him and co-driver Mikko Markkula.