Sunday WRC 2 in Monte: Victory for Mikkelsen
Andreas Mikkelsen led from start to finish to win the WRC 2 support category at Rallye Monte-Carlo on Sunday afternoon.
After seeing off an early threat from Skoda Motorsport team-mate Jan Kopecký, Mikkelsen opened a comfortable lead and eased through the final two days to head the Czech champion by 3min 25.4sec.
Mikkelsen lived up to his billing as pre-event favourite. The Norwegian finished third in the WRC last season but found himself without a full-time drive for 2017 after the unexpected withdrawal of his Volkswagen team.
“We did a good job and I’m happy with that but I hope to be in a Word Rally Car soon, that’s where I belong. It’s difficult but we’re trying to find some solutions,” said the Norwegian, whose Fabia R5 carried a retro Skoda livery from the firm’s Monte-Carlo class win 40 years ago.
Kopecký’s only problem during the four-day snow and ice rally was a puncture in the second leg and he finished 3min 11.3sec ahead of Bryan Bouffier’s Ford Fiesta R5.
Eric Camilli, who also returned to WRC 2 after competing in the headline World Rally Car category last season, was fourth in another Fiesta, with Quentin Gilbert and Emil Bergkvist completing the top six.
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