Andreas Mikkelsen and Skoda Fabia S2000 IRC update

Andreas Mikkelsen set three fastest stage times and finished 4th on the Prime Yalta Rally in his Škoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 – just 57.3 seconds behind the event winner, Juho Hänninen – after losing an estimated two minutes with a puncture, two spins and a crash during the three day event! For his outstanding never give up performance on the Ukrainian event, Andreas received the Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy. Skoda said: "It was a fantastic rally for Škoda. Victory sees Hänninen take the lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, becoming the first driver to win seven rounds of the series, while his Škoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecký was 3rd – ensuring that three Fabia S2000s finished in the top four. Škoda lead the Manufacturers’ series, while Hänninen and Kopecký are 1st and 2nd in the Drivers’ standings. It was an impressive performance by Andreas, who set seven top three stage times on the 14 stage event, producing another great performance on asphalt." Andreas Mikklesen said: “Performance-wise it’s been very good and the whole team has done a fantastic job. It’s also a great honour to be awarded the Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy. Of course he's a big legend in rallying and definitely I figure I look up to, so this prize I really appreciate. We were a bit unlucky on this rally with a puncture on Day 2 and also on the last day when we slid off, because we were having a very good battle with Kopecký for third position. We had the most perfect stage, but two hundred metres from the finish line, on the last right hand corner, there was much more gravel on the corner than we had expected and the car slid out. We hit a small tree and lost about twenty seconds. On the second to last stage we had a spin as well. I really feel that the whole team deserves a podium because they are doing an incredible job, so hopefully that will come soon. For sure we definitely have the speed to be up there fighting, because our pace is really good. I learnt a lot this weekend, so has everybody, and we are there now.” The next round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge is the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium (23-25 June). For more information, visit: www.skodapress.co.uk