Strong finish to Rally Argentina for Mikkelsen

The Norwegian Hyundai Motorsport driver were leading Rally Argentina after the morning loop of stages on Friday, when the rough and rocky conditions caused the front right tyre to come off the rim. The Norwegian pairing dropped down to eight overall after that. They fought their way back and were 5th going in to the final day.

Ahead of Sunday’s 3 stages, the 28-year-old said that he has not given up on catching Sebastien Ogier, who was fourth. He had a lead of 14,8 seconds. Andreas clinched a fastest stage time on the Sunday opening stage, and continued with another good time on the penultimate stage. Ahead of the final stage, he was only 3,8 seconds behind Ogier. Andreas and Anders pushed really hard on the final stage, but in the end they ended 4 seconds behind 4th place.

– We had a really good end to a challenging rally. We struggled a bit with the set-up, but did some changes yesterday and it felt better. I was able to push, and I felt I could control the rear of the car a bit more. On Sunday we were really up on the pace, and I did my absolute best to catch up with Seb Ogier. Unfortunately we only managed to take 10 of 14 seconds needed. Our speed on Sunday were promising, and I’m now really looking forward to Rally Portugal.

– I have to say Rally Argentina is something special, so many spectators, especially on Sunday stages! I have always enjoyed this rally, the stages suits my driving-style well, but the atmosphere is just something special.

Claiming third on the Power Stage, Andreas secured 3 bonus points. Ott Tanak won Rally Argentina, while Andreas team-mates Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo claimed second and third. Sebastien Ogier ended 4th and Andreas 5th.