The 2010 Rali Vinho da Madeira (Madeira Wine Rally), was the eighth round of the
2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge was the fifth season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season consisted of twelve rounds and started on 19 January with the Monte Carlo Rally. The season ended on November 6, at the Cyprus Rally ...
(IRC) season. The 21 stage asphalt rally took place on the island of
Madeira between 5 – 7 August 2010 with all stages running in daylight.
Introduction
The rally was based in
Funchal
Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of its high ...
, which is the largest city on the island of Madeira. The Thursday evening had a single stage, the Avenida Do Mar stage, which was the only stage that was run once during the event. Friday consisted of twelve stages covering with a further eight stages on the Saturday covering . The top four protagonists of the IRC;
Juho Hänninen
Juho Ville Matias Hänninen (born 25 July 1981) 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 ...
,
Jan Kopecký
Jan Kopecký (born January 28, 1982) is a professional rally driver from Czech Republic who drives for Škoda Motorsport. He is the 2013 ERC champion, 2018 WRC-2 champion as well as a multiple champion of the Czech Rally Championship
Career
...
,
Bruno Magalhães
Bruno Magalhães (born 10 July 1980) is a Portuguese rally driver. He is a regular competitor in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 for Peugeot Sport Portugal. He is a twice-podium finisher on the Rali Vinho da Ma ...
and
Kris Meeke
Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall, also B ...
took part in the event, while
Guy Wilks
Guy Wilks (born 22 January 1981) is a British rally driver. Wilks started rallying at the age of 19, but currently drives for JRM in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. In 2011 Wilks drove for Peugeot UK in the Intercontinental Rally Chall ...
did not take part due to an injury sustained at the
Rally d'Italia Sardegna
The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).
Characteristics ...
.
Results
Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian rally driver.
Career
Loix's career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15. In 1990, he bought his first rally car, a Lancia Delta group N, though he soon progressed to a Mitsubishi Gal ...
joined
Juho Hänninen
Juho Ville Matias Hänninen (born 25 July 1981) 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 ...
as a two-time winner in the 2010 IRC season with victory in Madeira, with a comfortable victory of nearly 40 seconds over
Jan Kopecký
Jan Kopecký (born January 28, 1982) is a professional rally driver from Czech Republic who drives for Škoda Motorsport. He is the 2013 ERC champion, 2018 WRC-2 champion as well as a multiple champion of the Czech Rally Championship
Career
...
.
His victory, the fifth of his IRC career, tied the record of
Kris Meeke
Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). He was the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion. His co-driver is Seb Marshall, also B ...
for number of victories in the series.
Loix, who claimed fourteen stage victories during the event, fought off the challenges of the other Škodas, Luca Rossetti's
Abarth
Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and Car tuning, performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy, Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a ...
and Meeke's
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
. Rossetti crashed out of the event during the second run through the Cidade de Santana stage, while Meeke retired on stage 17 due to a mechanical problem, two stages after breaking an alternator belt.
Behind Loix and Kopecký, Hänninen finished third but still holds a seven-point lead over Kopecký in the championship.
Overall
Special stages
References
{{reflist
External links
The official website for the rallyThe official website of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge
Madeira
Rally Madeira The Rali Vinho da Madeira is a tarmac Rallying, rally held in Madeira Island, Portugal, and it is the biggest annual sporting event of the island, bringing thousands of people into the roads to watch the drivers compete through the hilly terrain and ...
Rali Vinho da Madeira