Mikkelsen makes history with Açores victory

Andreas Mikkelsen has made history by becoming the first driver to win three rounds of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in succession by claiming victory on SATA Rallye Açores today (Saturday).

The ŠKODA Motorsport ace’s winning run extends back to last year when he triumphed in Scotland and Cyprus, rounds 10 and 11 of the 2011 IRC season. His triumph on the mid-Atlantic archipelago brings his tally to three in a row.

"This is the perfect start to the season, I am so happy for the team and this is perfect result for ŠKODA,” said Mikkelsen, who headed fellow ŠKODA driver Juho Hänninen and Peugeot’s Bryan Bouffier at the end of almost 200 kilometres of thrilling action.


Luca Rossetti actually won the first four IRC events he contested between 2007 and 2008 to earn the nickname ‘Mr 100 Per Cent’. However, because they weren’t on consecutive rallies, Mikkelsen takes the record, having been tied on two wins in a row with Giandomenico Basso, Jan Kopecký, Freddy Loix, Kris Meeke and Rossetti.

The full list of consecutive IRC winners is as follows:

Andreas Mikkelsen: Scotland and Cyprus 2011 and Açores 2012
Giandomenico Basso: Asturias and Sanremo, 2008
Jan Kopecký: Zlín and Asturias, 2009 and Zlín and Mecsek 2011
Freddy Loix: Madeira and Zlín, 2010
Kris Meeke: Açores and Ypres, 2009
Luca Rossetti: Istanbul and Portugal, 2008

Source: IRC Series