Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky have signed the Skoda team's maiden Intercontinental Rally Challenge victory after a dominating run at Rally Russia.

Hanninen was the star of the show, the Finn having signed every stage win but one and securing his second consecutive victory at the Russian event. Although Jan Kopecky did not have the same pace as his teammate, the Czech kept ahead of the competition and brightened Skoda's win by making it a one-two victory for the team.

The 15-stage Russian programme saw two runs cancelled on Day Two, but in the end it would not have made much of a difference as Hanninen's pace was simply too strong to beat: he ends the rally with a 1:20.9 advantage on teammate Kopecky, but the gap grows to a massive 4:06.0 on third-best Giandomenico Basso of the Abarth operation.

The only stage win to avoid Hanninen's grasp was conceded to Abarth's Anton Alen this morning but overall the Italian outfit could not reach Skoda's level in Russia, with punctures and mechanical issues further hampering their efforts. Alen was running under SupeRally regulations today; he can at least be content to have battled his victorious countryman for stage wins and succeeding in bettering him once.

It must be said however that the Peugeot camp did not participate in Rally Russia, leaving Kris Meeke, Freddy Loix and Nicolas Vouilloz out of the action. If Abarth did not have the pace to fight Skoda, the three Peugeot drivers would have given Hanninen and Kopecky a great fight.

Patrick Flodin's regular rhythm paid off, the Swede bringing his Uspenskiy Rally Tecnica Subaru Impreza WRC STi into fourth position overall.

Guy Wilks displayed the Proton Satria Neo S2000's good potential, systematically coming ahead of the Abarth cars from the rally start. However a puncture and a malfunctioning car jack cost him over three and a half minutes on SS7 and took him off the provisional podium - which would have been an excellent result indeed for a car still in its development phase.

Wilks' fifth-place finish is something to be proud of nonetheless and Proton comes away from Russia with precious data for future testing.

Anton Alen, who won here in 2007, ends sixth in the Rally Russia standings, ahead of Franz Wittmann's Interwetten Racing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. The top ten is completed by Boris Zimin and his Mitsubishi, followed by Kaspar Koiytla's Honda Civic; Koiytla emerges as the winner in the 2WD category.

Of note, Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky celebrated their team's maiden IRC victory by signing a one-two result on Rally Russia's final stage as well.