A troublesome season comes to an end in Australia for Mikkelsen
In many ways I am pleased that the 2018 season has come to a close. It has been a troublesome year for me, Andreas says after Rally Australia.
November 18, 2018
Together with his co-driver Anders Jaeger, Andreas have shown promising pace throughout the season, but have not been able to transfer this into good results. The duo was forced to retire on the opening stage of Rally Australia, after an off following a moving tractor in the stage. Restarting again on the Saturday under Rally 2 regulations, Andreas still got to finish his WRC-event number 100.
– We never got the result we were hoping for our final event of the season. Again, we started well and were fighting in the top, until we went off after meeting that tractor on the stage. Saturday and Sunday were just about to get to the finish-line, but we showed again we have the pace to fight for a lead. For the Sunday our aim was only to finish safely and make sure the car got the finish line, to help secure the teams podium in the manufacturer championship. Of course, we took it a bit more carefully then.
Even though the season did not end the way he hoped, Andreas still takes a lot of positives with him into the new season.
– We did not get the result we wanted, but still it’s been a positive weekend. I’m pleased with our performance and we did have a good feeling with the car. But it will be good to take a break now and to focus on the next season.
Jari-Matti Latvala won Rally Australia, while Sebastien Ogier claimed his sixth world champion title. Andreas ended up 6th in the Drivers’ Standings.