Andreas Mikkelsen are very pleased with reaching his goal with a podium finish at Rally Sweden. – This podium is very important for the championship, he says.
February 18, 2018
After a very disappointing opening round at Monte-Carlo, where an alternator problem ruined the chances of a podium, Andreas Mikkelsen really wanted to get a podium at Rally Sweden. He was fighting in the lead all through the rally, and in the end rewarded with a third place. His Hyundai Motorsport team-mate Thierry Neuville won the event, while Craig Breen ended second.
– I’m very pleased with our third, as I was aiming for a top three ahead of the event. This was my first one on snow and ice in the Hyundai, with only one test ahead of the rally. We had different snow conditions on the test-day, and I think my set up for the car would have been different had I known it better.
Even though he is happy with, Andreas admits he thought he would be on a quicker pace.
– I think that will come when I know the car a little bit more, a third now is good when you look at the championship, and we have a good base ahead of Rally Mexico next month.
The Rally Sweden podium is the first podium for Andreas and Anders together with the new Hyundai team, after they first joined for Rally Spain last year.
– We have now done 5 events with our new team and new car, and it’s a good feeling to have that podium now. We have set fastest stage times on all the events and in Sweden we also managed to score some extra Power Stage points.