Citroën stars welcome Mikkelsen
Citroën drivers Kris Meeke and Craig Breen have welcomed the arrival of Andreas Mikkelsen as the manufacturer seeks to get its championship challenge back on track.
The former Volkswagen star has been drafted into the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi squad for Rally Italia Sardegna (8-11 June) in a bid to turn around a miserable first half of the season.
Team-leader Meeke won the WRC's third round in Mexico, but has failed to score any points from the last three rallies. The Northern Irishman said he was "fully focused on getting back onto the positive trend" in Sardinia and had high hopes for Mikkelsen's arrival.
"I think it's a good thing to have Andreas in the team. He brings valuable experience and he has the potential to win rallies. We'll work together to ensure Citroën wins," he said.
Seventh in the drivers' standings, Breen is the team's highest ranked driver. "I'd like to say welcome to Andreas; we don't know each other very well at the moment, but I'm looking forward to working with him!" he said.
The arrival of Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger in the team has been one the most talked-about developments ahead of the rally.
But team boss Yves Matton warned against expecting too much from his new recruit, who drove the C3 WRC for one day in the south of France last week.
"Obviously, the fact that Andreas is competing at this event for us has caused a lot of excitement and expectation. But after just one day of testing, it is impossible for him to know the C3 WRC inside out. He will therefore be free to race according to his feeling in the car and adapt his pace accordingly," Matton explained.
"We have decided to keep the same modest goals for this rally: we have asked our crews to ensure two cars to finish in the top five."
