Champion Mikkelsen backs Wiegand for IRC podium

Defending Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen reckons it won’t be long before rookie driver Sepp Wiegand finishes on the podium on a round of the all-action series.

Wiegand (pictured) came within a handful of stages of finishing second overall on the Sibiu Rally in Romania only for a mechanical failure late in the event to put him out. Now Mikkelsen has backed ŠKODA Auto Deutschland’s 21-year-old rising talent to gain revenge by scoring a top-three finish before the season ends.

Speaking at the finish of the Sibiu Rally, Mikkelsen, who drives for ŠKODA UK in the IRC, said: “His performance on this rally was absolutely perfect and I am so sorry for him because it could have happened to me – I didn’t see the rock either, it was just pure bad luck. He just has to look at the positives from this rally – he did a fantastic event and he’s been getting closer and closer to the podium. It’s not so many rallies until he is there.”