Juho Hänninen in 2013
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Personal information | |
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Nationality | Finnish |
Born |
Punkaharju, Finland |
25 July 1981
World Rally Championship record | |
Active years | 2006–2011, 2013–2015, 2017–present |
Teams | RRE Sports, Ralliart New Zealand, Hyundai, Toyota |
Rallies | 46 |
Championships | 0 |
Rally wins | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Stage wins | 4 |
Total points | 63 |
First rally | 2006 Swedish Rally |
Juho Ville Matias Hänninen (born 25 July 1981 in Punkaharju) is a Finnish rally driver. He is the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) champion and 2011 Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC) champion with co-driver Mikko Markkula driving a works entered Fabia S2000 for Red Bull Škoda. He also won the 2004 Group N Finnish Rally Championship title, and debuted in the World Rally Championship during the 2006 season.
Hänninen who was born in Punkaharju 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. 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.