Qatar GP || December 1 || 20h00 (Local time)

SS10: Hänninen snatches first place

Neuville slipped back to third

By Franck Drui

16 April 2011 - 10:45

The sensational battle for victory on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés has taken another twist after defending Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Juho Hänninen snatched the lead by one-tenth of a second.

Finn Hänninen was two-tenths of a second faster than Škoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecký to move from third to first.

Thierry Neuville, who had led prior to the stage start, slipped back to third after reporting his tyres had lost grip following his charge on the previous run. The Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg driver is now 4.6s behind Hänninen heading to service in Las Palmas.

Guy Wilks has overtaken Andreas Mikkelsen for fifth after going third fastest through the stage in his Peugeot UK 207.

PROTON Motorsports’ Giandomenico Basso remains in ninth spot, despite pressure from TGS Worldwide’s Toni Gardemeister.

Overall positions after SS10:

Pos.	Driver	Car	Time
1	Hänninen Juho / Markkula Mikko	Škoda Fabia S2000	1h18m23.3s
2	Kopecký Jan / Starý Petr	Škoda Fabia S2000	+0.1s
3	Neuville Thierry / Gilsoul Nicolas	Peugeot 207 S2000	+4.6s
4	Loix Freddy / Miclotte Frédéric	Škoda Fabia S2000	+7.2s
5	Wilks Guy / Pugh Phil	Peugeot 207 S2000	+39.3s
6	Mikkelsen Andreas / Floene Ola	Škoda Fabia S2000	+40.4s
7	Bouffier Bryan / Panseri Xavier	Peugeot 207 S2000	+48.5s
8	Magalhaes Bruno / Grave Paulo	Peugeot 207 S2000	+1m27.3s
9	Basso Giandomenico / Dotta Mitia	Proton Satria Neo S2000	+2m02.3s
10	Gardemeister Toni / Suominen Tapio	Škoda Fabia S2000	+2m04.5s
11	Perez Jonathan / Velasco Enrique	Peugeot 207 S2000	+3m53.7s
12	Vinyes Joan / Mercader Jordi	Suzuki Swift S1600	+4m23.8s
13	Settembrini Massimiliano / Bonato Corrado	Peugeot 207 S2000	+5m29.8s
14	Antxustegi Gorka / Suárez Gabriel	Suzuki Swift S1600	+5m39.3s
15	Marrero Angel / Marrero Victor	Honda Civic Type R	+5m55.3s