Mikkelsen extends IRC lead with 2nd in San Marino

ŠKODA UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen has extended his lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge after finishing 2nd on the San Marino Rally (July 6-7) in his factory-prepared Fabia S2000. The reigning Drivers’ champion is now 24 points ahead of Jan Kopecký (ŠKODA Motorsport), while ŠKODA increases its lead in the Manufacturers’ standings to 128 points, as the 13 round series moves into the second half of the season. 

Co-driven by Ola Fløene, Andreas drove magnificently to lead the narrow, twisty and dusty gravel event for eight stages (SS3-10), despite running first on the road during Leg 1 and sweeping the loose gravel away for the cars following. His normally aspirated Fabia S2000 was also at a disadvantage on the many uphill hairpin sections against the turbocharged car of Giandomenico Basso, yet his inch-perfect driving saw Andreas record six fastest stage times compared to Basso’s five over the two day event.

Andreas entered the 13th and final stage 3.8 seconds behind Basso. It was a stage that favoured the turbocharged car, as Basso had been quicker on both previous runs through it. With finishing well and scoring valuable IRC points the main priority, Andreas was one second quicker than Basso over the final test to secure 2nd place – finishing just 2.8 seconds adrift after over two and a half hours and 118.2 miles (190.3kms) of competition.

ŠKODA Fabia S2000s filled the next two positions, with Umberto Scandola finishing 3rd and initial rally leader Sepp Wiegand 4th.

Andreas: “The stages on this year’s San Marino Rally have been some of the most difficult gravel ones I have ever competed on, especially when we were running first on the road and sweeping the loose gravel. The roads were so narrow and twisty, with so many trees and bushes hanging into the road, that it was impossible to see the exit of corners, so I’m very pleased with our speed and performance. When the stages were fast we were the fastest, but on the many uphill hairpin sections we lost out to the turbocharged car. We came to San Marino to score as many IRC points as possible and to extend our lead in the series, so I’m very happy that we’ve achieved that.”

In addition to broadcasting recorded highlights of the event, Eurosport cameras have been following Andreas and Ola during the San Marino Rally for its Inside IRC programme, which is scheduled to be broadcast at 23.30 (CET) on Tuesday 10 July (check TV listings for regional times).

The next round of the IRC is the Sibiu Rally Romania (20-21 July).

Article source: www.skoda.co.uk