Andreas Mikkelsen says his capture of 10 points for finishing fifth on Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse could be crucial as he bids to defend his Intercontinental Rally Challenge crown this season.
Mikkelsen, IRC champion in 2011, dropped out of the victory fight on the island rally, shown live on Eurosport, when he went off on Friday’s second stage and picked up a puncture on his ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000.
“We came to Corsica to try and score a really good result and okay, we didn’t achieve that after our incident on the second day and the two punctures,” said the Norwegian star. “After that it was all about scoring the maximum amount of points that we could and fifth place certainly is valuable points on the table. The points we scored here in Corsica could be important come the end of the year – they certainly were last year. We finished fifth; we hoped for more, but that’s the best we could have done.”
Mikkelsen continues to head the IRC drivers’ standings after four rounds, 13 points clear of fellow ŠKODA driver Jan Kopecký, who finished second in Corsica and earned the prestigious Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy following an impressive performance.