Mikkelsen crowned king of Scotland at Scone

Oct 11 2011 by Greg Christison, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

NORWEIGIAN motorsport ace Andreas Mikkelsen was crowned Rally of Scotland champion at Scone Palace and blew the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) title-race wide-open, reports Greg Christison.

Driving a Skoda Fabia S2000, the 22-year-old, under instruction by fellow countryman and co-driver, Ola Floene, raced to his first IRC win within the grounds of the historic Perthshire landmark on Sunday evening.

And Mikkelsen, who is sitting fourth in the IRC’s overall standings, is now one of six drivers who will battle it out for top spot at the competition’s final event in Cyprus next month.

Speaking to the PA yesterday, the winner was full of praise for the Perthshire stages.

He said: “It has been such an exciting rally and the conditions have been changing all the time.

“It was raining then it was dry, we’ve had everything. You never knew what was going to happen.

“From corner-to-corner it never stopped being a big challenge and to come out on top is a really nice feeling.

“I’ve really enjoyed it, sliding around and playing with the car in the mud is good fun.”

He continued: “I think it’s the whole nature of the stages, they are so fast and so flowing.

“Especially last year when it was dry, it was like, wow, what a grip.

“But this year it was a much more trickier challenge but still, so, so enjoyable. To cross that finish line at Scone Palace was the best feeling I’ve had in a rally car so far.”

With a time of 1h 55m 17.2s after 120 miles of competitive forest stages, Mikkelsen finished just 26.4 seconds before last year’s winner and reigning IRC champion, Juho Hanninen of Finland, and 1m 35.3s ahead of third-placed Frenchman Bryan Bouffier.

Following a glitzy ceremonial start at Stirling Castle on Friday night, drivers immediately took to Stirlingshire’s Carron Valley for the opening stages, where Durham driver Guy Wilks took an early lead in his Peugeot 207 S2000.

But Saturday’s visit to classic Perthshire courses, Craigvinean, Drummond Hill and Errochty, saw the 30-year-old end up in a ditch and Mikkelsen grasped first place with a 50.7s advantage.

And with one hand on the trophy, Mikkelsen didn’t loosen his grip.

Impressive drives at the re-run of Carron Valley and Stirlingshire’s Loch Chon and High Corrie meant only a major slip-up in the final stages at Scone Palace would see him forfeit the title.

But the Norweigian didn’t disappoint and secured an emphatic win in front of hundreds of fans.

Unfortunately, Scottish stars David Bogie and Alister McRae failed to finish due to mechanical problems.

Echoing Mikkelsen’s praise of the event, Hanninen, who was also driving a Skoda Fabia S2000, said:

“This landscape here is very nice, one of the best in Europe. I really like it here.

“It was much more trickier than last year, but my biggest issue yesterday was with the car.

“I’m happy to be second, but still disappointed, as I really wanted to win over here.”

The result means that six drivers could potentially win the IRC in Cyprus on November 3-5, where double points will be awarded.

Frontrunner Jan Kopecky (147pts) of the Czech Republic is closely followed by Hanninen (125pts), Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (115pts), Mikkelsen (111.5pts), Bouffier (110.5pts) and Belgian Freddy Loix (103pts).

Five-times British Rally champion, Jimmy McRae opened each stage in the Subaru raced by his late son, Colin, in tribute to the former World Rally champion.

And despite watching Colin’s brother, Alister, fall victim to the elements during this year’s event, McRae hopes the Rally of Scotland will continue in Perthshire for years to come.

He said: “It [driving Colin’s car] has been good and emotional at times.

“It is a 20-year-old car, the first he had from Subaru and he won the British Championship with it.

“It’s been rebuilt and I’m glad we’ve got it to the end without putting any dents in it.”

He continued: “Alister is totally cheesed-off [after retiring early] but that’s rallying.

“You can go event after event without any problems but then you can go to the next and go out in the first stage.

“The foreign competitors and foreign spectators, despite the weather conditions, have all seemed to have enjoyed it.

“I think it’s the type of roads we have here. They’re a bit special, they’re different from everywhere else and the drivers love it.

“Unfortunately, it hasn’t been as good this year because of the weather but they’ve still got smiles on their faces, well the ones who have got to the end anyway.

“So hopefully, Perthshire will continue to have the rally and we can have everyone back, but we hope next time the weather will be better.”