Andreas Mikkelsen and his co driver Ola Fløene will be back in the WRC in a Skoda Fabia S2000 in this weekend’s Rallye de France. The Norwegian pair looks forward to their first WRC event since Rally Sweden back in February.
"It feels good to be back. In the IRC we have been the only Norwegians this year, and here we are six Norwegian drivers. In the S2000 class it will more or less be a national championship for us," says Andreas Mikkelsen.
Mikkelsen will drive a Skoda Fabia S2000 run by the Skoda Rally Team Italy. He tested the car in France on Monday.
"We did only 28 km and of course I would prefer to have some more testing in the car. But I am convinced that the car has what it takes to fight for a podium finish here in France. The tyres are a challenge for me as we use Hankook in the IRC and will have to use Pirelli here."
Mikkelsen was 2nd in the S2000 category behind local hero Per-Gunnar Andersson in Rally Sweden this winter. Then he drove a Ford Fiesta S2000 as he also does in the IRC.
"Of course we would prefer to use the Ford also in France, but the rally was not a part of our program and the M-Sport Team will have so many cars in the rally so they could not offer us service. We have no problem to accept that. Skoda Rally Team Italy will give us the Evo 2 version of the Skoda Fabia S2000 and we are sure that Andreas will be competitive in the rally," says Mikkelsen’s manager Erik Veiby.
Mikkelsen last drive in a Skoda Fabia S2000 was when he won the Costa Smeralda Rally in Spain last year.