Juho Hänninen

WRC driver
Name = Juho Hänninen


Caption =
Nationality = flagicon|FIN Finnish
Years = 2006 – present
Teams = RRE Sports, Ralliart New Zealand
Races = 19
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Stagewins = 0
Points = 2
First race = 2006 Swedish Rally

Juho Hänninen (born July 25, 1981 in Punkaharju) is a Finnish rally driver. He won the 2004 Group n Finnish Rally Championship title, and debuted in the World Rally Championship during the 2006 season. His current co-driver is Mikko Markkula.

Career

Hänninen debuted in the Finnish Rally Championship in 2003, finishing eighth overall in the Group n (small Group N) standings. The next year, he won the title in the same class at the wheel of an Honda Civic Type R. In 2005, he finished second in the Group N class with a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI.

Hänninen's first World Rally Championship event was the 2006 Swedish Rally, where he won the Group N class in his Lancer Evolution IX, and placed 15th overall. At his next rally, the Rally d'Italia Sardegna, Hänninen was again the fastest Group N driver and finished 14th overall. He competed in three more WRC events during the 2006 season, and achieved his best overall result at the Rally New Zealand, where he was ninth and second in the Group N class after Jari-Matti Latvala. In his debut in a World Rally Car in Finland, Hänninen was excluded for not wearing the correct fireproof underwear. [cite web | title=Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 driver scores points in Rally Finland | work=Mitsubishi Motors | url=http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/motorsports/e/06wrc/fin/index.html | accessdate=2008-09-08] At the season-ending Rally GB, Hänninen competed in a Super 1600 -class Citroën C2 and finished 19th overall, ahead of all the Junior World Rally Championship contestants.

In the 2007 season, Hänninen did a full six-event Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) programme in the Lancer Evolution IX. He initially won the Swedish Rally but was later disqualified for non-homologated fuel pumps. [cite web | title=PWRC: Hanninen excluded, Svedlund inherits win | work=Crash.net | url=http://www.crash.net/news_view~t~PWRC--Hanninen-excluded--Svedlund-inherits-win-~cid~4~id~143144.htm | accessdate=2008-09-08] His best results then were a second place at the Rally GB and a third place in Argentina, and he placed fifth in the championship standings. He also competed in three World Rally Championship events in a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05, taking his first WRC point by finishing eighth at the Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

In 2008, Hänninen is contesting the PWRC for the Ralliart New Zealand team. He won the Swedish Rally, also finishing eighth overall and taking his second WRC point, and the Rally Finland. He has also competed in two Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) events, taking fifth place with the Group N Lancer Evolution IX at the Rally Portugal and then winning his first rally in a Super 2000 car at the Rally Russia in a Peugeot 207 S2000. [cite web | title=Hanninen picks up maiden international success | work=Eurosport | url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/13072008/29/hanninen-picks-maiden-international-success.html | accessdate=2008-09-08]

References

External links

* [http://www.juhohanninen.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.ewrc-media.com/results/profile.php?profile=41 Hänninen at eWRC]
* [http://www.rallybase.nl/index.php?type=profile&driverid=10900 Hänninen at RallyBase]