Huge congratulations to both ŠKODA UK Motorsport and Andreas Mikkelsen – who became the first ever driver to successfully defend their Intercontinental Rally Challenge title, after finishing 2nd on the final round, the Cyprus Rally, in his Fabia S2000, and dominating the season, in style. Partnered by Ola Fløene, who retains the co-drivers’ title, Andreas has 'only' won two rounds of this year’s IRC, but in Richard Burns/Carlos Sainz consistency style finished 2nd five times and recorded a huge 58 stage wins (making a total of 99 stage wins in 2011 and 2012 IRC seasons).
ŠKODA utterly dominated this year’s IRC, scoring 120 stage wins out of a possible 172 on its way to be crowned IRC Manufacturers’ champions for the third consecutive year. Four different ŠKODA drivers – Mikkelsen, Juho Hänninen, Jan Kopecký and Dimitar Iliev – won IRC events in 2012, ŠKODA drivers filled the final top four positions on the drivers’ standings and the Fabia Super 2000 won eight out of the 13 rounds.
Andreas took an early lead in Cyprus with fastest time on the opening Pafos city centre stage on Friday night, before losing two minutes and dropping to 7th after picking up a right rear puncture on Saturday’s opening stage. He launched an amazing comeback on the mixed surface stages in the rugged Troodos Mountains, setting seven fastest stage times over the next eight stages to close to within just 49 seconds of leader Nasser Al-Attiyah after SS10. Another puncture on SS11 saw Andreas settle for 2nd place in Cyprus and the IRC title – and in tribute to the contribution his co-driver has made during his double title success, and indeed since the start of Andreas’ career, Ola drove the final stage in Cyprus; setting a very respectable 13th fastest time!
Andreas said: "These have been the best two years of my life in the IRC with ŠKODA UK Motorsport and it’s an amazing feeling to be champion again. I have to thank ŠKODA for giving me the chance to return to international rallying and giving me the best available car to help me develop as a driver.
"We tried hard to win the Cyprus Rally and we really went for it, but three punctures cost us a lot of time. The mixed surface format and the hot and rough conditions were a real challenge, but it’s been great fun to fight with Nasser and I’m really pleased with our performance."
Pierfrancesco Zanchi, ŠKODA UK Motorsport Team Principal: "It’s been another great season. We started the year aiming to defend the title, which isn’t an easy thing to do. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I have to say I think we’ve done a really good job. We are really happy to celebrate back-to-back drivers’ titles with Andreas and to have played our part in helping ŠKODA win three manufacturer titles in a row."
Final positions (provisional top 6 after SS13)
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini (Ford Fiesta RRC)…. 3hrs 16mins 25.2secs
2. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+3mins 35.3secs
3. Toshi Arai/Dale Moscatt (Subaru Impreza)….+10mins 07.1secs
4. Jarkko Nikara/Jarkko Kalliolepo (Subaru Impreza)….+12mins 42.1secs
5. Sepp Wiegand/Timo Gottschalk (ŠKODA Fabia S2000)….+14mins 00.6secs
6. Savvas Savva/Andreas Papandreou (Mitsubishi Lancer)….+15mins 45.1secs
IRC Drivers points (provisional after Round 13)
1. Andreas Mikkelsen….168pts
2. Jan Kopecký….101pts
3. Juho Hänninen….93pts
4. Sepp Wiegand….73pts
5. Giandomenico Basso….65pts
6. Nasser Al-Attiyah….50pts
Bravo ŠKODA UK Motorsport and Andreas! Find out more and see more images at: https://www.facebook.com/andreasmikkelsenrally?fref=ts
