Juho Ville Matias Hänninen (born 25 July 1981) is a
Finnish rally
Rally or rallye may refer to:
Gatherings
* Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade
* Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event
Spor ...
driver. He is the 2010
Intercontinental Rally Challenge
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers competing in recognised regional and international ra ...
(IRC) champion and 2011
Super 2000 World Rally Championship
The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...
(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
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...
during the
2006 season.
Career
Hänninen who was born in
Punkaharju debuted in the
Finnish Rally Championship in 2003, finishing eighth overall in the Group n (small
Group N
In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing 'standard' large scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specific ...
) standings. The next year, he won the title in the same class at the wheel of a
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
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. There are separate championships ...
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
The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. The race is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongside t ...
, where he was ninth and second in the Group N class after
Jari-Matti Latvala. In his debut in a
World Rally Car
A World Rally Car is a racing automobile built to the specific regulations set by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and designed for competition in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The cars were introduced in 1997 as a repl ...
in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...
, Hänninen was excluded for not wearing the correct fireproof underwear. At the season-ending
Rally GB
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cale ...
, Hänninen competed in a
Super 1600
Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any automobi ...
-class
Citroën C2
The Citroën C2 is a supermini that was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën, with production starting August 2003. It replaced the Citroën Saxo and was built at the Aulnay plant, on the outskirts of Paris. The Citroën C2 was disconti ...
and finished 19th overall, ahead of all the
Junior World Rally Championship
The FIA Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international rallying competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of t ...
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
The Rally Sweden ( sv, Svenska rallyt), formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, ...
but was later disqualified for non-
homologated
Homologation ( Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work f ...
fuel pumps. His best results then were a second place at the
Rally GB
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) cale ...
and a third place in
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
, 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
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...
, Hänninen is contesting the PWRC for the
Ralliart New Zealand team. He won the
Swedish Rally
The Rally Sweden ( sv, Svenska rallyt), formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, ...
, also finishing eighth overall and taking his second WRC point, and the
Rally Finland
Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; fi, Suomen ralli, sv, Finska rallyt) is a rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The r ...
. He has also competed in two (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
Super 2000 is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...
car at the
Rally Russia in a
Peugeot 207 S2000.

In
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, Hänninen contested the IRC for
Škoda in a
Škoda Fabia S2000
The Škoda Fabia S2000 is a Super 2000 rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car.
History
It made its début at Rallye Monte Carlo 2009, with factory team Škoda Motorsport and drivers Jan Kopecký and ...
, winning in Russia for the second year in succession and finishing sixth in the championship. Hänninen continued his relation with Škoda for the
2010 season. He became IRC champion after winning the
2010 Rally Scotland. He scored 3 wins, four 2nd places and three 3rd places and 62 points. Hänninen won
Rally Argentina
The Rally Argentina ( es, Rally de Argentina) is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championshi ...
,
Rally d´Italia Sardegna and
Rally Scotland. Also as in 2009, Hänninen competed in
2010 Rally Finland driving a Škoda Fabia for the Red Bull Rally Team, winning the S-WRC class.
For 2011, Hänninen competed in both IRC and
S-WRC, driving for the Red Bull Škoda team in the S-WRC.
He became the S-WRC champion after winning the
Rally Catalunya.
He took his first ever stage win in the World Rally Championship at the
2013 Monte Carlo Rally
The 2013 Monte Carlo Rally (formally known as the 81ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 16 and 19 January, and marked the eighty-first running of the Monte Carlo Rally. ...
, setting the fastest time on stage nine. On 8 July,
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups:
* Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested
** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company
** Hyundai As ...
confirmed that it had signed Hänninen as an official test driver to develop the
Hyundai i20 WRC.
Results
WRC results
As driver
As co-driver
PWRC results
SWRC results
IRC results
ERC results
Notes
References
External links
Official websiteHänninen at eWRCHänninen at RallyBase*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanninen, Juho
1981 births
European Rally Championship drivers
Finnish rally drivers
Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers
Living people
People from Punkaharju
World Rally Championship drivers
Sportspeople from South Savo
Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers