SS16: Hanninen edges closer to Ypres glory

Juho Hänninen will return to Ypres for the penultimate service halt leading round six of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge by 38.9s following the second Watou stage.

The ŠKODA Motorsport driver was 0.3s faster than Freddy Loix, in a Peugeot 207, through the 12.86-kilometre run. “It was much better than in the first pass but it’s quite slippery out there so it’s not easy,” said the 2010 IRC champion.

Pieter Tsjoen impressed by completing the stage just 1.4s slower than Hänninen in his ŠKODA Belgium Fabia.

Mathias Viaene, who dropped out of contention for a strong finish with a front-right puncture this morning, was fourth quickest in his Peugeot.

Michal Sołowow continues to hold fourth overall in his Peugeot, despite the chasing Patrik Flodin going faster through the stage for Petter Solberg Engineering.

Andreas Aigner and Martin Kangur lead the IRC Production Cup and IRC 2WD Cup for Subaru and Honda respectively.

There are two stages remaining following the 25-minute service in Ypres, including the repeat of the 28.82-kilometre Hollebake run, the longest of the rally, which gets underway at 21:13hrs local time.