The 2010 Sata Rally Azores, officially 45º Sata Rallye Açores, was the seventh 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 19 stage gravel rally took place on the island of São Miguel in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

between 15–17 July 2010.

Introduction

The rally was based in the major city of

Ponta Delgada Ponta Delgada (; ) is the largest municipality (''concelho'') and economic capital of the Autonomous Region of the Azores in Portugal. It is located on São Miguel Island, the largest and most populous in the archipelago. As of 2021, it has 67,28 ...

. Day one consisted of three stages covering a total of . Day two covered a total of over nine stages with the remaining seven stages, covering were completed on day three.

Results

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 Mad ...

became the sixth different winner of an IRC rally in 2010, after taking advantage of troubles for the Škodas of championship contenders

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 ...

and

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 ...

over the closing stages of the rally. Magalhães had dominated the early running of the event, holding a 2.2-second advantage into the final day. Hänninen eroded the gap on the first stage on Saturday, but would have to wait until stage fifteen to take the lead, as stage fourteen was cancelled after

Andreas Mikkelsen Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989) is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship-2 for Toksport World Rally Team. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen, Citroën and Hyundai in the Wor ...

hit a stray cow. Hänninen would hold the lead until the penultimate stage, when he picked up a right-front puncture on the Graminhais test, losing nearly two minutes to his chasers, falling to fourth behind Kopecký, Magalhães 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 ...

. Kopecký held a lead of 6.4 seconds going into the final Tronqueira test over Magalhães. However, Kopecký's bid for a second win of the season would come to a premature end as he slid off the road with four kilometres remaining in the stage. His bad luck rewarded Magalhães with his first-ever win in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, with Meeke coming home in second to record

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 ...

's first 1-2 in the series since Meeke and

Nicolas Vouilloz Nicolas Vouilloz (born 8 February 1976) is a French professional mountain biker and former professional rally driver. He won the Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships ten times, starting as a junior in 1992 and finishing h ...

finished in those positions at the 2009 Rally International de Curitiba. Hänninen's third-place finish extended his championship lead over Kopecký to nine points, with Magalhães moving into third position.

Overall

Special stages

References

{{reflist

External links

The official website for the rally

The official website of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge