Mikkelsen back on familiar territory in Ypres

Andreas Mikkelsen plans to make the most of his knowledge of the GEKO Ypres Rally stages when he resumes his Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign with ŠKODA UK Motorsport in Belgium this week.

Mikkelsen, who turns 22 today (Wednesday), took part on the event last season in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000. He will return 12 months later for a second attempt, albeit armed with a ŠKODA Fabia S2000.

And with 80 per cent of the route identical to the 2010 rally, Mikkelsen hopes his experience of the demanding roads and terrain will boost his chances of a strong finish.

“The Ypres Rally will be very tough, especially against the local drivers like Freddy Loix and Thierry Neuville who know the roads so well,” said Mikkelsen. “But we still have the possibility to do very well ourselves. Our pace has been getting better and better in the Fabia S2000 this year and now we are up with the fastest in the IRC.”

“We made good progress in Corsica and then took another step up in Ukraine, and we can go even faster still. Ypres is the first rally in this year’s IRC that I have done before and 80 per cent of the stages are the same as last year. I think that with a good recce and very good pacenotes we can really challenge for a top finish. We’ve had a little bit of bad luck this year, but I have a very good feeling about Ypres.”