Andreas Mikkelsen has sacrificed the chance to claim his 100th stage victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge by switching seats with co-driver Ola Fløene for the final run of the Cyprus Rally.
With limited driving experience, navigator Fløene proved no match to Nasser Al-Attiyah, who sealed victory on the IRC season-closer by winning the all-asphalt Stavros test in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RRC.
The Qatari took the lead on Saturday’s first stage when Mikkelsen suffered the first of four punctures, and was never truly threatened thereafter, despite Mikkelsen’s trio of stage wins this morning.
But having used both of his spare tyres following a double puncture on stage 11, Mikkelsen adopted a cautious approach over the closing tests before handing the keys of his Fabia Super 2000 to his co-driver for the last run. Nevertheless, he and Fløene were able to celebrate their second IRC title triumph in succession with the runner-up spot for ŠKODA UK Motorsport.
Jarkko Nikara impressed with the second fastest time through the 15.91-kilometre stage in his Subaru Impreza R4 STI, 7.1s down on Al-Attiyah. Toshi Arai was third quickest to secure victory in the IRC Production Cup. Harry Hunt completed the stage to win the IRC 2WD Cup for a second time.
Crews are now heading back to the final service in Pafos prior to the podium ceremony outside the Pafos Town Hall at 17:31hrs local time.