Mikkelsen: Sardinia underlined potential

Andreas Mikkelsen believes the speed he showed on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna earlier this month has further underlined the competitiveness of his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this season.

The 20-year-old from Norway is contesting seven rounds of the IRC for the British M-Sport squad, which guided Mikko Hirvonen to victory on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in January, the Fiesta’s debut event.

Although Mikkelsen crashed out on the opening stage of the island competition, his returned on day two under SupeRally regulations netted a succession of top five stage times.

“We know the potential is definitely there,” said Mikkelsen. “Of course there is room for improvement with my driving and a little bit with the car set-up and also the Hankook tyres. But the package looks good and it’s definitely something to build on.”

Mikkelsen returns to IRC duty on the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium from 24-26 June. Before then he will undertake a test in the country under the guidance of respected engineer Mathias Aubespin.