Norway rally joy for IRC champion Mikkelsen

Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen has started 2012 as he ended 2011 by taking victory in his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000.

Mikkelsen was contesting the Mountain Rally, a round of the Norwegian championship, on Saturday in the same car he used to win the IRC rounds in Scotland and Cyprus last term.

Co-driven by Ola Fløene, the 22-year-old beat World Rally Championship star Mads Østberg by 7.2s after winning a total six stages despite a spin on one test.

“It’s very nice to start the new season off with a rally win, and I am very pleased,” said Mikkelsen. “It’s a long time since I’ve driven on snow and ice and having been away for two years it was great to rally in Norway again. We had to drive fast to beat Mads and even though we were here to test, competing against such a good driver meant we really had to focus on our driving – so it was a very good test situation for us.”

Mikkelsen will begin his IRC title defence with ŠKODA UK Motorsport on Sata Rallye Açores from 23-25 February, the opening event of the 13-round season.