Finland return presents golden opportunity for WRC2 star Mikkelsen

The Norwegian starts the Jyväskylä-based event second overall in WRC2 standings, but with an event in hand over current table-topper, Frenchman Yohan Rossel.

Despite arriving late into this year’s series, the three-time world rally winner has taken maximum points aboard his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 from Rally Italia Sardegna and last month’s Rally Estonia. A similar result this week would stand him in very good shape to repeat his 2021 title win.

The Toksport driver is, however, cautious ahead of Thursday evening’s start.

“I haven’t competed in Finland since 2019,” he said. “That’s quite a break – four years is quite a long time. Of course, I am watching a lot the onboards to learn about the roads – this is something very good from WRC+.

“We have been working towards Finland since Estonia, already we were talking with the engineers in the debrief to find what we need to work on with the car. We know in Finland we will have some more grip and we know we have to find the good set-up for the car.

“The championship is the target, but we started late into the season – so we’re kind of catching up.”