Mikkelsen no-show at GB shakedown

Andreas Mikkelsen was absent from Thursday morning’s Wales Rally GB shakedown after flying to Germany for an unscheduled medical check.

The Norwegian, who scored his maiden WRC victory last month in Spain, felt unwell on Wednesday. He cancelled early evening media engagements and flew to Germany last night to visit the Volkswagen team’s doctor.

Mikkelsen is due to return to Britain later today. Although he will not be back in time to take this evening’s start ceremony in Llandudno, Volkswagen personnel said he would be fit to start the 13th and final round of the FIA World Rally Championship tomorrow morning.

Volkswagen would not comment on the nature of Mikkelsen’s illness but a spokesman said it ‘was not serious’.

Team-mates Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala were tied at the top of the times through the muddy 3.32km Clocaenog test. Latvala set the pace on the second of his three runs in a Volkswagen Polo R before Ogier matched the time on his third pass.

Kris Meeke was third, 0.3sec further back in Citroën’s DS 3, with Thierry Neuville another two-tenths behind in a Hyundai i20. The Belgian’s team-mates, Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo, completed the top six.

Both Robert Kubica and Mads Østberg had their gearboxes replaced in the shakedown service in Ruthin, while Kevin Abbring damaged the rear of his i20 after clipping a hay bale under braking near the finish.

M-Sport duo Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak experienced gear selection problems in their Ford Fiesta RS cars which were resolved in service. Evans turned round on the liaison section before his first pass through the stage while Tänak returned after his first run.

The leading times were:

1= Sébastien Ogier Volkswagen Polo R 2min 01.4sec
1= Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Polo R 2min 01.4sec
3. Kris Meeke DS 3 2min 01.7sec
4. Thierry Neuville Hyundai i20 2min 01.9sec
5. Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 2min 02.4sec
6. Dani Sordo Hyundai i20 2min 02.6sec
7. Mads Østberg DS 3 2min 02.7sec
8. Elfyn Evans Ford Fiesta RS 2min 02.8sec
9. Kevin Abbring Hyundai i20 2min 03.4sec
10. Stéphane Lefebvre DS 3 2min 03.6sec