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Leon (Mexico), 8 March – Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula (FIN) of Red Bull Škoda finished second at the opening S-WRC event in the surroundings of Leon, Mexico. The crew were gradually narrowing the lead of their rivals after a mistake they'd made at the beginning of the first stage on Friday, but failed to get higher than third place in the final rankings, despite a massive attack. However, Nasser Al-Attiyah failed to pass the final technical inspection after the race and was disqualified, and so Hänninen & Markkula moved up to the runners-up position. In terms of the races to come, this result is an excellent foundation and a great motivation for the team.

The opening event of the S-WRC championship offered 365 power-stage kilometres over four days. The race was challenging for both the racers and the cars, especially due to high on-track temperatures (over 33 degrees) and altitudes of as much as 2,700 m above sea level.

Day 1 of the Mexico Rally saw the opening 1.05-km city stage. A narrow and slippery track in the centre of Leon with crowds of excited fans standing alongside the road offered no space for mistakes. Short as it was, the first stage was indeed very difficult - the drivers had no time to warm up the tyres, which was exactly the reason why Red Bull Škoda's Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula damaged the chassis of their Škoda Fabia S2000 by touching the road's high kerb. Yet they were third in the S-WRC category after the first day, only 1.7 and 0.5 seconds behind Nasser Al-Attyiah and Martin Prokop, respectively.

The event started in full on Friday, with altogether nine stages (143 km in total). The day started with a hectic bustle in the depot zone when the mechanics and the crew found out that it was necessary to replace the whole steering and the rear axle pin – the Red Bull Škoda mechanics made it within the 15-minute limit and their heroic performance was heavily applauded by the fans watching their "show". However, Juho Hänninen made a mistake right in the first stage that made his car spin and leave the track. As Juho said later on, the two minutes he and his co-driver had lost by pushing the car back to the track was a loss difficult to eliminate. The mechanics then preventively replaced the gear box during the following stop. Red Bull were fourth after Day 2, more than two minutes behind the leader, Nasser All-Attyiah in a Ford.

A change in the car setting the mechanics made on Saturday morning brought some more excitement to Juho Hänninen's chase ride – he won the first power stage by 19 seconds and started to gradually reduce his two-minute loss caused by his own mistake on Friday. Saturday's nine stages (159 km) offered a mix of fast stretches, difficult jumps and bumpy roads with sharp bends. Having cut one minute off their previous-day loss,Red Bull Škoda were third before the last day. Juho Hänninen commented: "Our competitors were a bit slower than us today, and we will do our best to further reduce our loss. We will probably not manage to eliminate it completely, because we do not have many kilometres to drive in this race any more."

The Sunday portion of kilometres (62 km in total) started with probably the most difficult stage - 29 km full of dangerous stones spread all over the track. Juho put in a fantastic performance to cut some more seconds off his loss, but he pushed it too far in the following stage and his car rolled on its roof. Although he managed to continue with his slightly damaged car after just 14 seconds, he lost his chance to get higher in the rankings, and the final stage did not change anything. However, Nasser Al- Attiyah was soon to find out that the regulations and technical rules of the world championship are indeed very strict and merciless. The technical commissioners responsible for the final technical inspection found out that the fuel cell ventilation system in Al-Attiyah's vehicle was not compliant with the rules and disqualified Al-Attiayah from the race. As a result, Juho Hänninen moved up to the runner-up position. Final rankings: 1. Martin Prokop (CZE), 2. Juho Hänninen (FIN) + 1.13,7.

Commenting on the opening event of S-WRC, Juho Hänninen says: "Our ambitions definitely could have been even higher if I hadn't made that mistake at the beginning. I wish to thank the mechanics for their excellent job, next time I will try to bring the car to the finish line in better condition and in even a better position. The second place and the championship points are certainly positive."

Appreciating the excellent teamwork, Head of the Red Bull Škoda team Raimund Baumschlager said: "Our guys are top-class drivers. Looking back at the whole race and, especially, the bad luck at the beginning, we are happy with the second place – it is positive in terms of further progress of the championship. I would like to appreciate the mechanics' contribution – I take my hat off when I remember how they replaced the whole steering and the rear axle pin on Friday morning. We are looking forward to the next event in Jordan, but the track there is difficult, and it will certainly be a challenging event, too."

The next item on the agenda of the Škoda Red Bull team is the Jordan Rally over April 14-16 that is going to see the team's other crew, Hermann Gassner jr. & Katharina Wüstenhagen. The complete Red Bull Škoda team is then going to appear at the following S-WRC event in Sardinia over May 5-8.

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