Late Madeira start for IRC leader Hänninen

Intercontinental Rally Challenge leader Juho Hänninen will be the second to last driver to tackle the opening stage of Rali Vinho Madeira after event organisers decided to reverse the starting order for Thursday night’s opening section.

Hänninen, who heads the IRC drivers’ standings by nine points after seven rounds, is set to pass over the start ramp in Funchal at 17:34hrs local time before he heads to service and then on to the Av. Do Mar stage, which gets underway at 19:30hrs. Only Luca Rossetti, a four-time winner in the IRC, will run behind him.

Local driver Alberto Gouveia, at the wheel of a diesel-powered Škoda Fabia, is due to be the first of the IRC eligible drivers to start the rally.

Top 10 starting positions for leg one, section one

1 Alberto Gouveia (Škoda Fabia TDI)
2 Filipe Carvalho (Peugeot 106 GTI)
3 Aurélio Rodrigues (Peugeot 206 GTI)
4 Ana Sofia Correia (Peugeot 206 GTI)
5 Narcisco Andrade (Peugeot 206 GTI)
6 Carlos Oliveira (Abarth Punto S1600)
7 Pedro Meireles (Subaru Impreza WRX)
8 Rui Fernandes (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX)
9 João Fernando Ramos (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX)
10 Duarte Ramos (Peugeot 206 S1600)