In Ponta Delgada, 15 July, 2011 – The drivers of ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000s are fighting a fierce battle for every second and the top position. Juho Hänninen of ŠKODA Motorsport is still first after Day 2, followed by Andreas Mikkelsen of ŠKODA UK Motorsport who managed to narrow Hänninen's lead (10 seconds at one moment) to just one second after a fantastic chase ride that earned him three victories in the last three stages today. Kopecký & Starý are still fourth, five seconds behind Magalhaes in a Peugeot. Saturday promises excitement, suspense and merciless fights for every yard of the track.
The Sao Miguel island woke up to a cloudy morning after a rainfall at night that had soaked today's route, and the clouds became even darker to produce some more rain and a heavy fog during the transfer to the start of the fist stage. Commenting on the extreme weather conditions during the morning transfer, Petr Starý said: “I kept looking at the pace notes, as there was nothing to be seen ahead of us, anyway.” Two of the nine stages planned for today were cancelled in the end – Stage 5 due to a herd of cows on the track and Stage 9 for too many vehicles on the track after the previous passage. Andreas Mikkelsen got pretty fast in the second half of the day to get just behind leader Hänninen, and just one second between these two drivers of Fabia Super 2000s after Day 2 promises an exciting battle on the final day. Jan Kopecký kept fighting for third place with last year's winner Magalhaes all day today and is five seconds behind him so far.
Commenting before the final day, Juho Hänninen says: “The engine faded away in one of the turn-offs during the last stage today, which was bad luck, but that's life. It's going to be interesting tomorrow, but we certainly want to win this rally.”
Jan Kopecký adds: “We haven't driven on gravel for a long time and we still kind of know about it, but we are not giving up the fight for third place. The car is working perfectly, and five seconds is not much”.
Sata Rally Acroes continues on Saturday with the final five stages (87 kilometres).
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