New top performance by Andreas Mikkelsen

Ahead of this weekend’s Rally Portugal, Andreas Mikkelsen stated that his goal was a spot on the podium. He fought hard to reach it and after a well-executed rally, he could enjoy the success after securing third place.

“Of course we always wish to aim higher, but considering our start position in this round I have to say that third place is more than okay” said the 25-year-old with a smile.

There was absolutely no advantage to start early on Portugal’s rough gravel roads, which was the case for Andreas and his co-driver Ola Fløene during the entire event. This contributed to them cleaning the roads from loose gravel for the drivers who came further behind.

“This is a part of the game and I think we handled the situation very well” commented the Norwegian.

For a long time he had a tough battle for third place with Kris Meeke. Going into Sunday’s last three stages, Meeke had a small lead of 1.1 seconds. But Andreas passed the Brit in the standings already on the first stage of the day and on the next one, he increased the gap to 16.8 seconds. The only thing that could jeopardize Andreas’ third place was an incident on the final power stage. That did not happen, instead the VW Motorsport driver did very well on the last stage and with the third fastest time that he set, he also got additional championship points.

“In my opinion, this has been a great rally for us. We debuted the new car and we have to get to know it. However, I think the transition went really well and I can not say anything else than that this has been a good event. Now I am excited about the rest of the season in this car” said Andreas.

That Andreas belongs to the best rally team in the world got confirmed once again in Portugal. Only Volkswagen Motorsport drivers were to be found on the podium. Finnish Jari-Matti Latvala has struggled this season, but this weekend he fought back strongly and won the event with Sebastien Ogier in second. They were separated by as little as nine seconds, while there was 28.6 seconds between Latvala and Andreas. For the first time in history, Volkswagen Motorsport secured top three on a power stage. With that, they could celebrate the fact that they scored maximum championship points at this event.

“It is amazing to be a part of this team” said Andreas. He can also be pleased about taking back second place in the overall drivers’ standings in the WRC. With four podiums in five rounds, there is no doubt that he has opened the season in a convincing manner.