SS7: Hanninen shows his pace in Zlin

Intercontinental Rally Challenge leader Juho Hänninen has set a rapid pace on the seventh stage of Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

Driving a ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, the Finn was 0.8s faster than his closest rival through the 12.95-kilometre stage to climb from fifth to third in the overall standings, 12.3s adrift of team-mate and leader Jan Kopecký.

“I changed a bit on the car in the service area and now I feel I can push more,” said Hänninen.

Andreas Mikkelsen, who was second fastest through the stage, is now 7.3s behind Kopecký following a “big push”. The ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver said: “I made a mistake in the previous stage so I’m on a big push now.”

Kopecký, who was fourth fastest, said he was surprised at the pace of his Fabia-driving rivals: “We lost a little bit of time so we need to come back to our speed,” he said. “I am quite surprised at the pace of the others.”

Freddy Loix was third quickest and is now 4.8s behind Guy Wilks who has dropped to fifth in the overall standings behind Bryan Bouffier.

Giandomenico Basso suffered a right-rear puncture on his PROTON Satria Neo.