By Charlie Contadeli
Andreas Mikkelsen has described the incident that cost him victory on the Circuit of Ireland Rally last week and, for several seconds, left him unconscious.
Mikkelsen was dicing with Juho Hanninen for victory on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event when he lost control braking for a rain-coated left-hand turn on the first run through the Lisburn street stage.
His Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia made hefty contact with a protected hay bale leaving Mikkelsen momentarily concussed after it is understood his crash helmet struck part of his seat support.
“What cost us the chance of victory was a left-hand corner in Lisburn,” said Mikkelsen. “It was raining and very slippery and I just lost the car and went sideways into a hay bale, and we lost a lot of time. It was quite a hard hit. I was a bit dazed, and to be honest I don’t remember so much about it. I was happy to be able to finish the last three stages, because I wasn’t feeling so good.”
Following the incident Mikkelsen’s car was stationary for more than 30 seconds before he was able to complete the stage and finish the rally in second position. It has since emerged that his co-driver Ola Floene began prodding the young Norwegian before he regained consciousness.
Source: MaxRally
