Andreas Mikkelsen has described how the fans that traditionally flock to the Geko Ypres Rally in great number came to his rescue on the fifth stage of the event this evening.
Mikkelsen, who was dicing for first place with Juho Hänninen on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier, went off the road and got stuck in a ditch.
He explained: “I didn’t want Juho to get too far in front, so I decided to push a little bit. I braked a little bit too late going into a junction, slide a bit wide on the exit and went backwards down into a ditch with the front wheels in the air, so I wasn’t able to move anywhere. It took me one minute to get help and get me on the road again.”
Driving a ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000, Mikkelsen will start day two of the event in fourth overall, 13.4s behind third-placed Pieter Tsjoen and 1m14s down on Hänninen.
“There is still a long way to go and we need to try and climb the leaderboard as high as we can,” said the Norwegian, IRC champion in 2011.