Hänninen wins in Scotland

Juho Hänninen has won the RACMSA Rally of Scotland in the Škoda Motorsport Fabia, driving with imperious ease over the final treacherous stage in Loch Ard forest. This cruelly attritional rally had more tricks in store as Kris Meeke picked up a puncture and Group N leader Jonathan Greer finished in a ditch.

"It was a fantastic finish to the season, a great weekend," said Hänninen. "It’s been almost a perfect year and I’d like to thank the team for everything they’ve done."

Fastest in the stage with a time of 18m43.9s was Guy Wilks in the Škoda UK Fabia. "It just shows what might have been," he said. "We’ve enjoyed ourselves today and it’s important to go out on a high and give the spectators a good show. We caught up Jonny Greer dragging a wheel and he slowed us a bit, but apart from that we set a quick pace."

Third fastest behind Hänninen to finish second overall was Andreas Mikkelsen, who chose not to make a final push for the lead over the final stage. "It can’t be much better than this," he said "I’m very happy with how the event has gone. It’s been amazing for us. Everything has worked well from the beginning."

Kris Meeke finished third overall but drama struck again on the final stage as he picked up a puncture. "I don’t know where the puncture was, we carried it for about 20 kilometres," he said. "We’ve had to drive at 110 per cent this year to keep up and that’s where you run in to problems. We’ve tried to mix it all year and I think third place is a fair reflection of how things have gone for us."

Proton’s mixed fortunes continued as Alister McRae went fourth fastest but Tom Cave, the marque’s sole remaining driver eligible for points, ended the rally nose first in a ditch.

"The pace has been really hot and when that happens you see plenty of mistakes," said McRae. "The pace is fast in the IRC across the board now so we have a lot of work to do but we’ll definitely be back. I’m not planning on claiming my pension for a while yet so I’m looking forward to coming back next year."

David Bogie was the first Group N driver home after Jonathan Greer had to stop on the stage.

"The car has been dramatically down on power because of the broken exhaust," said Bogie, "so we’re very glad to make it to the end. To finish in this position is excellent."

Such was the rate of attrition that only ten cars were classified at the finish.

"We were very careful most of the time," said Ralliart driver Eamonn Boland, who edged past Burcu Cetinkaya’s Peugeot on the final stage when it had gearbox problems. "It was very slippery over the last few stages. They were dropping like flies!"

Overall positions after SS12 - End of rally:

Stages 10 & 12 Loch Ard

The longest stage in the rally and one of the longest tests in the UK at just over 29 kilometres, this is a monster of a stage. It is here that the rally could very easily be won or lost! The test features all types of terrain from flat out sections over crests, to tight hairpins as you descend back down the hill. Much of the route has been clear felled by the Forestry Commission and the cars can be viewed for long distances through the many twists and turns. Loch Ard Forest is part of the Lomond & Trossachs National Park, Scotland’s first National Park, with the status being granted by the Scottish Government in 2002.

Eurosports TV cameras will be transmitting both runnings of this stage on live TV. The stage has undergone a couple of changes with the addition of a new loop that climbs over the hill at the back of Drymen.

Guy Wilks says: “This is a belter of a stage! The road is built-up at the start, with big ditches either side, and it’s very fast and flowing. With trees set well back, the road is lined with heather, fern and bracken and there are some beautiful sections of road where you just fly. The stage is quite long, there are a lot of surface and road width changes and it feels like there is everything here rolled up into one stage – including a spectacular downhill section with a lot of hairpins. It’s a difficult stage and a real sting in the tail, as David Bogie found out, when he crashed out on the final stage here last year.”