Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen has admitted he was going after his Volkswagen team-mate Sebastien Ogier when he crashed out of the opening day of Wales Rally GB.
Fastest at the pre-event shakedown, Mikkelsen was second, and trying to make up a 4.5sec deficit to Ogier, when he put his Polo off the road on Friday’s second stage, Dyfi.
“I tried to minimize the time gap to Seb today. He was pulling away already on the first stage so I tried to really push on the second – but I pushed a little too much,” Mikkelsen told wrc.com.
“I braked too late for a corner and the rear end of the car caught a ditch. This also dragged the front in and I destroyed the front right suspension arms. I didn’t have the parts with me to fix it, so I had to stop,” he explained.
Last week, 25-year-old Mikkelsen said he was optimistic that he might claim his maiden WRC win in Wales. He began his rally career in the UK, and lived in the north Wales town of Ruthin in 2006 while working towards his driving licence.
He also admitted he would ‘take a few more risks than usual’ on the rally he considers a home fixture.
After the crash, Mikkelsen’s Polo R was recovered to the rally service park in Deeside and has been patched up ready for a Rally 2 return on Saturday.
“Tomorrow we will be back to push some more and try to learn the stages for the years to come,” he said. “It’s a big shame. I really wanted to have a good event here. We always planned to push hard – but I pushed the limits too far.”