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Ponta Delgada, 23 February 2012 – Azores Rally started the new season of Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) championship 2012. The competition, divided into three days, offered the first three stages today. From the beginning the two frontrunners – last year's winner of the Azores rally Juho Hänninen and the current IRC champion Andreas Mikkelsen, are fighting for the first position, both on the factory Fabia Super 2000.

The competition was made attractive by today's third stage which was run as a parallel duel of pairs. In a direct duel of Nordic pilots Mikkelsen beat Hänninen by 0.2 seconds and will start the Friday section from the first position with a lead of 1.4 seconds. Sepp Wiegand of ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland team, who is fifth so far, is enjoying a very good start in its first IRC event.

Juho Hänninen of the ŠKODA Motorsport factory team has evaluated the first day of the Azores rally: "Today's short opening showed how tight the duels with Andreas can be expected. The track was not as muddy today as it was during the tests, it was drying out, which is very unusual on this island. We are already looking forward to the next portions of kilometres. "

The rally on Sao Miguel, the largest island of the Azores, continues on Friday with six stages in which the drivers will face 86 rough kilometres. The legendary stage in the magical surroundings of the water-flooded volcano will be run twice.

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