Andreas Mikkelsen has been forced to retire from round one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the centenary edition of Rallye Monte-Carlo.
Mikkelsen, who was making his debut for Škoda UK Motorsport, slid into a wall on a right-hand bend four corners into the stage and punctured his Fabia Super 2000’s left-rear tyre.
Because the impact had also damaged the Fabia’s rear suspension, Mikkelsen was unable to change the wheel and had to complete the 36.87-kilometre test with a punctured tyre.
He reached the tyre service in Vals where further inspection revealed the car was too badly damaged to continue and Mikkelsen was withdrawn.
Team manager Pierfrancesco Zanchi said: “The damage to the rear suspension was too bad to allow Andreas to continue so we have had to retire the car in the tyre service.”
Mikkelsen, from Norway, is one of the leading lights of the IRC and won the inaugural Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally last November. He tested for two days in preparation for Rallye Monte-Carlo, while co-driver Ola Fløene lost 10 kilograms in weight to help improve the pair’s competitive edge.