Juho Hanninen has said that he will be contesting Skoda’s home rally, next month's Barum Czech Rally Zlin.
The Finn was originally not expected to do the rally, but last year's winner was given the green light to do the event after his win on the Sata Rally Açores, his third of the current season. However, Hanninen knows that he will be under pressure from fellow Skoda drivers Jan Kopecky and Andreas Mikkelsen. Freddy Loix, last year's winner, is also going to be present.
“I will be there in the Czech Republic and I can win but it will be as difficult as it was to win last time, in the Azores. Jan is very strong over there and also we saw the speed of Andreas Mikkelsen in Ukraine and in the Azores. So I try to win but it won’t be easy.” said the Finn.
Local hero Jan Kopecky lead the rally for 13 stages last year, before crashing out on the 14th test. This handed the lead to Peugeot's Bryan Bouffier, but Skoda's Freddy Loix took the lead from Bouffier & went on to win the rally.
The Czech round will take place over the weekend of 26th-28th August, only a week after the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, a counting round of the S-WRC, on which Hanninen is focusing his 2011 efforts. It is for this reason that Skoda are putting their weight behind Jan Kopecky, in an effort to get the Czech driver to the top of the IRC Driver's Standings. He currently sits third on 70 points, 13 behind his team-mate.
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