Juho Hänninen has extended his lead of Sata Rallye Açores to 19.9s over Bruno Magalhães after winning the Grupo Marques superspecial. Going up against Škoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecký in a head to head battle, the Finn was 1.2s faster than Andreas Mikkelsen, who is nursing his damaged M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 following his collision with a cow on stage 14.
Crews are heading back to service in Ponta Delgada before the final three stages of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.
Overall positions after SS16:
1) Juho Hänninen 1h55m02.8s
2) Bruno Magalhães +19.9s
3) Jan Kopecký +22.3s
4) Kris Meeke +1m13.3s
5) Andreas Mikkelsen +1m23.1s
6) Bernardo Sousa +2m27.3s
– Credit: www.ircseries.com