Learning experience for Mikkelsen in Finland

Having secured victory last time out in Poland, Andreas Mikkelsen was full of confidence ahead of his outing in Finland – a rally, at which the Norwegian’s outstanding driving ability was yet to be rewarded with a top-three finish. Running third, the 27-year-old from Oslo had his sights set firmly on the podium right up to the 13th special stage – the iconic “Ouninpohja”. From that point on, he had to take over the dreaded role of road sweeper from Ogier, who had slipped down the starting order after arriving too late at a check-in after making necessary repairs on a liaison stage. Mikkelsen continued to drive well and fought hard to end the rally in seventh place – a result that sees him gain valuable ground on world championship leader Ogier.

– All in all, Anders and I can be happy with seventh place. We could not have done any more this weekend. Driving on these fantastic routes is an awesome feeling. Another positive is the fact that we made up a few points on Sébastien. His lead is obviously still a big one, but we are still in touch. It was difficult once we suddenly had to open the route on Saturday. We did our very best, but starting first really did not make life easy. I was driving on the very limit all the time on some of the stages, but my times were still slow.

O/A WRC Rally Finland

1 Meeke

2 JML +29,1

3 Breen +1.41,3

4 Neuville +1.45,9

5 Paddon +1.48,2

6 Østberg +2.04,6

7 Andreas +2.22,4

8 Lappi +4.53,8