Thu July 22, 2010

 Meeke takes well-earned 2nd on Acores Peugeot scored a dramatic one-two in this weekend's SATA Rally Azores, the seventh round of this year's Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC)....

Tue July 20, 2010

 A sensational 1-2 for the 207 S2000 The dramatic final day of the 2010 Rallye Açores saw Peugeot Portugal's Bruno Magalhaès take the win ahead of Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke. The result hands the 207 S2000 its first one-two finish of the 2010 IRC campaign....

Sun July 18, 2010

 First Colin McRae trophy goes to Magalhaes Magalhaes was handed the prestigious award by a panel of judges consisting of IRC's Motorsport Development Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas, Gilbert Roy, Eurosport Events' Director of Editorial and Programme Development, and Colin's father Jim McRae....

 Final day frustration for Skoda on Azores A great show all over the three days of the seventh event of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) that went so well for both Škoda Motorsport crews turned upside down in the last two special stages....

Sat July 17, 2010

 Magalhaes lands dramatic Azores victory Bruno Magalhães has claimed his first victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge following a thrilling finish to Sata Rally Acores today (Saturday)....

NEWS JUST IN

 Magalhaes takes Azores win! @ 10:43 PM - Bruno Magalhaes won Rally Azores after Jan Kopecky crashed on the final stage of the event. Kris Meeke finished 2nd and Hanninen 3rd after a puncture.

 P/AC end - Victory for Magalhaes!!!! @ 06:47 PM - In yet another amazing twist Kopecky crashed out of the lead! It was a 22km stage and in the splits Magalhaes had halfed his gap, then Kopecky tried too hard and went off. Wow, anybody who would have betted on a Peugeot 1-2 two stages from the finish would have been declared insane! End results (after SS18):
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 2h34m00s4;
2nd= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m00s1;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +1m20s7;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +4m45s6;
5th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +5m22s;
6th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +8m58s7;
7th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +10m55s3;
8th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +12m54s5;
9th= Carmo/Reis, Mitsubishi, +14m23s6;
10th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +15m09s8

 P/AC SS18 - Drama for Hänninen! @ 06:39 PM - Hänninen has a puncture and loses his secure victory on the penultimate stage! At the same time strong stage for Kopecky, who moves from 3rd to 1st in one go. Meeke now 3rd ahead of Hänninen. Sousa loses time with his SS17 accident damage. Mikkelsen has power steering problems. Last stage leaders gap is 6.4s for 22km! Results after SS18:
1st= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, 2h15m11s1;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +6s4;
3rd= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m13s9;
4th= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +1m32s1;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +2m11s6;
6th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +4m56s1;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +8m33s4;
8th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +9m41s1;
9th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +10m29s2;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +11m05s6

 P/AC SS17 - Still hot fight @ 06:06 PM - Hänninen-Kopecky-Magalhaes in this order within 1.1s in this stage! Kopecky very close to Magalhaes now, is this to be another Skoda 1-2? Sousa lost 2min with a spin and rear corner impact. Results after SS17:
1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, 1h59m18s6;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +21s;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +22s3;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m16s5;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +1m30s3;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +3m47s;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +4m36s1;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +8m04s5;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +8m42s3;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +9m28s1

 P/AC SS16 - No changes in SSS @ 06:01 PM - Superspecial with stage win for Hänninen. Magalhaes 4th fastest despite his oil problem, now service. Results after SS16:
1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, 1h55m02s8;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +19s9;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +22s3;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m13s3;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +1m23s1;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m27s3;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +4m17s1;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +7m47s7;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +8m13s2;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +9m09s3

 P/AC SS15 - Magalhaes drops time @ 05:55 PM - Clear lead for Hänninen now, as Magalhaes drops around 20s with poor visibility, gearbox oil spraying on his windscreen. Sensational stage win for Fiesta driver Bernardo Sousa. Results after SS15:
1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, 1h53m16s2;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +18s;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +20s6;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m10s9;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +1m21s9;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m25s3;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +4m13s9;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +7m43s2;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +8m08s;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +8m56s5

 P/AC SS14 - cancelled, lucky for some @ 05:52 PM - Stage cancelled under curious circumstances. Meeke first on the road collects a puncture and stops to change. His damage turned nill seconds, as Mikkelsen passed him and was first at a scene crashing into cows and damaging the front of his Fiesta. Stage cancelled, but lucky for Meeke and Mikkelsen results remain as of SS13.

 P/AC SS13 - How close can it be! @ 05:30 PM - First stage of the morning, Hänninen wins stage 2.2s from Magalhaes, and as this was the gap last night, we have 2 leaders, a Peugeot-Skoda tie after 13 stages! Meeke passes Mikkelsen. Results after SS13:
=1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 1h34m26s6;
=1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +0;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +11s8;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +55s7;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +57s3;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m29s7;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +3m50s;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +7m14s3;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +7m20s1;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +7m31s6

Fri July 16, 2010

 Magalhaes holds slender lead in Acores Bruno Magalhaes will start the final day of Sata Rallye Acores tomorrow (Saturday) with a slender margin of 2.2 seconds over Intercontinental Rally Challenge leader Juho Hanninen. The Peugeot Sport Portugal driver seized the initiative from overnight pacesetter Hanninen on Friday...

NEWS JUST IN

 P/AC leg2 - Lead much narrowed! @ 06:31 PM - Magalhaes with tyre problems has his lead narrowed to just 2.2s by flying Hänninen, who just passed Kopecky in the process. Meeke just stays behind Mikkelsen and will be 1st on the road tomorrow. Pascoal back in 8th, passing Vale. Results after leg2 (SS12):
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 1h28m35s8;
2nd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +2s2;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +8s2;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +48s9;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +51s7;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m23s6;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +3m38s6;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +6m53s8;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +6m55s9;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +7m08s8

 P/AC SS11 - Skoda vs Skoda @ 06:11 PM - Skodas fastest in this stage with Kopecky extending his lead over Hänninen from 0.3s to 0.4s! Interesting loop layout, 1st stage was 1st stage of the rally, this stage is 1st stage of leg3 loop1 and next stage is 1st stage of leg3 loop2. Peres in 8th delayed. So Pascoal moved from 11th to 9th, as he passed Silva on speed. Results after SS11:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 1h24m13s;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +9s5;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +9s9;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +48s1;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +52s1;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m15s3;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +3m27s;
8th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +6m35s;
9th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +6m43s5;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +6m52s2

 P/AC SS10 - Gearbox ratio games @ 05:19 PM - SS10 is a repeat of SS1. Magalhaes loses a bit to Skodas on this stage with his close ratio gearbox, which however should be an advantage on the next 2 stages. Meeke has another puncture and drops behind Mikkelsen again. Hänninen catching Kopecky. Results after SS10:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 1h18m08s4;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +12s9;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +13s2;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +42s9;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +49s4;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +2m03s1;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +3m13s7;
8th= Peres/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +4m31s5;
9th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +6m12s3;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +6m29s

 P/AC SS9 - Magalhaes rains on vulcano @ 03:26 PM - 2nd run on the picturesque edge of the vulcano Cidades stage. Magalhaes beats Meeke and Hänninen only narrowly, but to show the amazing pace, Mikkelsen was quicker than his run on same stage as SS6, yet he lost 19s and 4th place! Pascoal arrives late at stage start and collects 3m10s penalties. Results after SS9:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 1h08m00s7;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +13s3;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +17s1;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +41s4;
5th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +41s8;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +1m47s3;
7th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +2m56s2;
8th= Peres/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +4m01s8;
9th= Vale/Medeirso, Mitsubishi, +5m30s9;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +5m50s5

 P/AC SS8 - Meeke wins stage @ 02:56 PM - But Kopecky and Magalhaes within 1.5s of Meeke, so overall positions unchanged. Results after SS8:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 54m54s8;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +8s8;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +16s3;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +23s;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +41s3;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +1m25s4;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +2m21s6;
8th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +2m21s9;
9th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +3m00s8;
10th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +4m17s6

 P/AC SS7 - Hänninen strong @ 02:22 PM - Hänninen wins thius repeat of SS4 and edges past Mikkelsen, who such meanwhile dropped from 2nd to 4th. Magalhaes still keeps the lead. Results after SS7:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 49m12s6;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +9s7;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +15s1;
4th= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +18s3;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +42s8;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +1m12s5;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +2m05s2;
8th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +2m12s2;
9th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +2m32s7;
10th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +3m49s5

 P/AC SS6 - The big vulcano stage @ 11:45 AM - And Meeke spins on this very narrow, picturesque stage, lucky the damage was only 20s! Magalhaes wins the stage and keeps looking good on this rally. Results after SS6:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 43m28s3;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +9s4;
3rd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +20s1;
4th= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +20s3;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +45s5;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +1m03s9;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +1m50s6;
8th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +1m56s2;
9th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +2m11s6;
10th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +3m18s2

 P/AC SS5 - Stage win for Kopecky @ 11:11 AM - Magalhaes closely behind and maintains the lead. Results after SS5:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 30m13s4;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +5s7;
3rd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +6s1;
4th= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +16s7;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +29s7;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +41s3;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +1m15s6;
8th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +1m15s7;
9th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +1m22s4;
10th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +2m11s6

 P/AC SS4 - Punctures for Meeke & Hänninen @ 11:10 AM - Both however not too much damage. Magalhaes fastest and retaking the lead. Results after SS4:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 24m24s;
2nd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +1s3;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +6s6;
4th= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +13s6;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +28s6;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +29s;
7th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +1m01s4;
8th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +1m04s2;
9th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +1m05s5;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +1m44s6

Thu July 15, 2010

 Hänninen edges close fight in Acores Two tenths of a second will cover the top three cars when Sata Rallye Acores, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, resumes tomorrow (Friday). After the opening three stages, title leader Juho Hanninen holds a 0.2s advantage over Bruno Magalhaes with Andreas Mikkel...

 M-Sport have high hopes for Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen’s M-Sport team is confident that its young star can replicate the pace he showed on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna last month when he resumes his Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign on Sata Rallye Açores this week....

NEWS JUST IN

 P/AC leg1 - Top3 within 0.2s! @ 07:18 PM - And that's not for the superspecial, but for the day overall! Hänninen takes lead, but Magalhaes & Mikkelsen tied closely behind. Results after leg1 (SS3):
1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, 18m35s8;
=2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +0s2;
=2nd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +0s2;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +5s5;
5th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +11s3;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +12s3;
7th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +46s6;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +47s4;
9th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +49s7;
10th= Vale/Medeiros, Mitsubishi, +1m20s1

 P/AC SS2 - Bruno by 0.1s @ 06:42 PM - Hänninen wins stage, but Magalhaes keeps lead by 0.1s. But Mikkelsen drops behind Hänninen, and Meeke deliberately behind Sousa to not start 1st tomorrow. Results after SS2:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 16m47s1;
2nd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +0s1;
3rd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +1s6;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +5s2;
5th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +10s4;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +12s6;
7th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +38s8;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +44s8;
9th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +47s;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +1m13s8

 P/AC SS1 - Surprise stage winners! @ 06:19 PM - Stage leaders are surprisingly none of the main championship battle. Stage is won by Bruno Magalhaes, closely followed by Andreas Mikkelsen. Local Acores boy Ricardo Moura suffered a puncture. Results after SS1:
1st= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, 10m14s4;
2nd= Mikkelsen/Floene, Ford, +0s3;
3rd= Hänninen/Markkula, Skoda, +2s5;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +3s9;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +5s;
6th= Sousa/da Silva, Ford, +9s1;
7th= Perez/Ferreira, Mitsubishi, +21s5;
8th= Pascoal/Castro, Peugeot, +32s4;
9th= Moura/Eiro, Mitsubishi, +33s3;
10th= Silva/Leal, Subaru, +40s8

Wed July 14, 2010

 Sata Rally Azores - Preview Six rounds down and the battle for the Intercontinental Rally Challenge couldn’t be closer with Skoda Motorsport team-mates Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký separated by just three points at the top of the drivers’ standings prior to Sata Rallye Açores....

 Kris Meeke heads back to Acores The narrow stone wall-lined stages of the island of Sao Miguel in the Azores saw Peugeot UK's Kris Meeke secure his second IRC victory in 2009. This week, Kris and co-driver Paul Nagle will return to the island with a wish to repeat last year's triumph....

Tue July 13, 2010

 Acores, 3 in a row for the 207? After Bruno Magalhaès' victory driving a 207 S2000 on the 2008 Rally Açores and Kris Meeke's win 12 months ago, again in a 207 S2000, Peugeot's chances once again remain largely in the hands of the Portuguese and British pair this time round....

Wed July 7, 2010

 Magalhaes hopes test will boost Azores bid Bruno Magalhães hopes that a pre-event test will hand him a welcome boost ahead of Sata Rallye Açores, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which runs from 15-17 July....