Mikkelsen: pace note to blame

Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen has blamed an incorrect pace note for the crash that took him out of the opening leg of Rally Mexico.

The Volkswagen Motorsport II driver is making his Mexico debut this weekend, and was lying second overall when he went off 22km into Friday’s second test – the 44km El Chocolate.

“Basically I had one pace note that was a little bit too positive for a second-gear corner,” he told wrc.com. “So I arrived a little bit too quickly and the corner tightened more than I expected. We clipped some rocks on the outside, which destroyed our rear right wheel and we had to park up after that.”

“Up to that point I’d really enjoyed the rally. But when these things happen it’s a bit of a blow-out. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re unlucky.”

Having covered only 32km of Friday’s competitive distance of 148km, Mikkelsen is keen to restart on Saturday and build his knowledge of the terrain.

“It is a shame, but we will be back in business tomorrow under Rally2 regulations. We now want to gain as much experience as possible, in order to be able to push hard again here next year,” he said.