Skoda to miss Curitiba event

Peugeot and Abarth have confirmed that they will make the long trip to Brazil for the Rally Internacional de Curitiba, which takes place at the same venue as the opening round of the World Touring Car Championship, but Skoda will stay at home in order to concentrate on testing and development with the all-new Fabia S2000.

The Mlada Boleslav-based team, who are due to contest six rounds of the IRC this year, are expected to reappear for the Rally Acores, and Hanninen is looking forward to showing the car's potential on a gravel rally.

"I really can't wait to get on gravel now," said Hanninen, who led for the majority of the Monte Carlo Rally before crashing out.

"I really wasn't expecting to be so quick in Monte Carlo because asphalt is not my favourite surface. So now I'm quite excited to get onto gravel. I can feel that the car will be very quick there, and I am normally more confident on gravel as well."

Hanninen, who finished runner-up in last year's Production Car World Rally Championship, is due for another test session before his next participation in the IRC.

"There is still some work for us to do in testing," he said. "But already the car has got off to a good start. I think people were surprised by the pace of it. We've got the potential to be at the front, but it is still very early days."

He added that he believes the IRC's Super 2000 formula would be ideal for the World Rally Championship's new rules package next season. There is still debate over whether the WRC will adopt the existing S2000 rules or an 'S2000-plus' variant.

"These cars are really nice to drive and really spectacular," said Hanninen. "You don't need anything more than this; in fact they make an even better show than the current World Rally Cars. So I think that the sport is looking good for the future."