2011 Mecsek Rallye

The 2011 Mecsek Rallye, officially Canon 45. Mecsek Rallye, was the eighth round of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) season. The fourteen stage asphalt rally – held as a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for the first time – took place over 10–11 September 2011 with all stages held in daylight.^[1]

2011 Mecsek Rallye Canon 45. Mecsek Rallye
Round 8 of the 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season ← Previous event Next event →
Host country	Hungary
Rally base	Pécs
Dates run	10 – 11 September 2011
Stages	14[1] (251.86 km; 156.50 miles)
Stage surface	Asphalt
Overall distance	825.24 km (512.78 miles)
Statistics
Crews	47 at start, 31 at finish
Overall results
Overall winner	Jan Kopecký Škoda Motorsport

Introduction

The rally, which was run for the 45th time, was based in the Mecsek mountain city of Pécs, in the Baranya County of Hungary. The opening events took place on 9 September, starting in Széchenyi square, in the old town of Pécs with a special musical performance, composed by Tibor Bogányi, the conductor of the Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, for brass winds and car horns.^[2] Following the short concert the racers drove from the square to the Pécs Plaza, where the ceremonial start was held and the rally was officially opened by Csaba Nagy, deputy mayor of Pécs, Erik Bánki, president of the Tourist and Sports Committee of the Parliament and Zsolt Gyulay, head of the National Automobilesport Federation of Hungary. The prologue was staged in the late afternoon on a 1.2 km (0.75 mi) track and was won by local driver Dávid Botka ahead of Bruno Magalhães.^[3]

The rally began the next day; initially eight asphalt stages covering 144.46 km (89.76 mi) were scheduled for Saturday, however, due to safety reasons the final stage of the day was cancelled.^[4] The closing six stages, consisting of 107.40 km (66.74 mi) were completed on Sunday.

Results

Andreas Mikkelsen led the rally from start, but was forced to retire on the penultimate stage after he hit a log,^[5] with Jan Kopecký taking the lead and held on to take took his second consecutive IRC victory on the rally, by just 0.8 seconds ahead of Thierry Neuville, in the closest finish in Intercontinental Rally Challenge history.^[6]

Overall

Pos.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Time	Difference	Points
1.	Jan Kopecký	Petr Starý	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:00:06.7	0.0	25
2.	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:00:07.5	0.8	18
3.	Freddy Loix	Frédéric Miclotte	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:01:06.7	1:00.0	15
4.	Bryan Bouffier	Xavier Panseri	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:01:42.3	1:35.6	12
5.	Hermann Gassner	Timo Gottschalk	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:02:39.2	2:32.5	10
6.	György Aschenbrenner	Zsuzsa Pikó	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:02:44.9	2:38.2	8
7.	Toni Gardemeister	Tapio Suominen	Škoda Fabia S2000	2:03:12.3	3:05.6	6
8.	Róbert Bútor	Igor Bacigál	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:03:23.5	3:16.8	4
9.	Bruno Magalhães	Paulo Grave	Peugeot 207 S2000	2:03:58.4	3:51.7	2
10.	Beppo Harrach	Andreas Schindlbacher	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	2:04:20.7	4:14.0	1

Special stages

Day	Stage	Time	Name	Length	Winner	Time	Avg. spd.	Rally leader
Leg 1 (10 September)	SS1	9:08	Hetvehely 1	18.21 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	8:50.2	123.64 km/h	Andreas Mikkelsen
	SS2	10:06	Orfű 1	28.00 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	14:16.4	117.70 km/h
	SS3	12:34	Pécsvárad 1	12.00 km	Jan Kopecký	6:46.0	106.40 km/h
	SS4	13:37	Alsómocsolád 1	14.02 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	6:53.2	122.15 km/h
	SS5	16:10	Hetvehely 2	18.21 km	Jan Kopecký	8:47.6	124.25 km/h
	SS6	17:08	Orfű 2	28.00 km	Jan Kopecký	14:10.5	118.52 km/h
	SS7	19:36	Pécsvárad 2	12.00 km	Jan Kopecký	6:49.1	105.60 km/h
	SS8	20:39	Alsómocsolád 2	14.02 km	stage cancelled
Leg 2 (11 September)	SS9	9:08	Zobák 1	12.00 km	Andreas Mikkelsen	6:51.2	105.06 km/h
	SS10	9:51	Árpádtető 1	24.00 km	Jan Kopecký Andreas Mikkelsen	11:09.8	128.99 km/h
	SS11	10:44	Nyárásvölgy 1	17.70 km	Thierry Neuville	8:29.9	124.97 km/h
	SS12	13:17	Zobák 2	12.00 km	Thierry Neuville	6:48.4	105.78 km/h
	SS13	14:00	Árpádtető 2	24.00 km	Thierry Neuville	11:06.4	129.65 km/h	Jan Kopecký
	SS14	14:53	Nyárásvölgy 2	17.70 km	Thierry Neuville	8:26.4	125.83 km/h