SS18: Mikkelsen in trouble

Andreas Mikkelsen’s hopes of a maiden WRC victory at Rally Sweden appear to be over after the Norwegian went off the road into a snowbank.

Mikkelsen was in pursuit of leader Jari-Matti Latvala when he buried the front of his Volkswagen Polo R into the snow near the end of the 19.26km Torntorp stage. He lost 25.7sec to his team-mate and the Finn’s advantage at the top of the leaderboard is now 33.7sec.

Mikkelsen was too pre-occupied to comment but co-driver Mikko Markkula confirmed that he didn’t think there would be any serious issues as he scooped handfuls of snow from the radiator intake.

Also in the snow was Kris Meeke. “The front of the car got sucked into a snow bank. My inside wheels pulled us in. There were very few spectators, eventually we dug it out,” explained the Northern Ireland driver who lost seven minutes and dropped to 14th.