Andreas Mikkelsen warms up in -30°C ŠKODA run + Photos

ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen has successfully completed his second and final pre-season warm-up event by battling through -30°C temperatures and driving with frozen toes to finish 5th on Rally Finnskog.

Three weeks after winning the Mountain Rally, Andreas and co-driver Ola Fløene (who celebrated his 43th birthday on 1 February) were back in Norway to compete on another snow rally in their Intercontinental Rally Challenge title-winning ŠKODA Fabia S2000, which is now owned and run by the Evenrally team.

The extreme winter conditions were idea practice for this weekend’s Rally Sweden, with a great deal of snow and ice covering the eight forestry stages near the host village of Svullrya, situated 85 miles (137kms) north-east of Oslo.

A spin on SS3 and a puncture on SS7 denied Andreas hopes of S2000 victory, but he was pleased to have achieved what he’d set out to do on Rally Finnskog – find a good rhythm and pace on narrow studded snow tyres. He ended the event in typical style, setting a time on the final stage that was just 6.2 seconds behind rally winner Mikko Hirvonen and 6.5 seconds behind stage winner Mads Østberg, who were both driving more powerful World Rally Cars.

Andreas: “Rally Finnskog was a very good test before Rally Sweden. The biggest difference between this rally and what I’m used to in the IRC were the snow tyres, so it was a very good test to get used to the narrower studded ones. I’m satisfied with the pace and overall it has been a great day. On the last stage I was just over six seconds behind Mikko Hirvonen and Mads Østberg who were both running World Rally Cars, so I was really pleased about that.

It has been terribly cold – the temperature dropped to minus thirty degrees and I have frozen toes. The stages were really nice and now I feel that I am where I should be before the WRC round in Sweden.”

The ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver will be on loan to Volkswagen Motorsport for the forthcoming Rally Sweden, which starts in Karlstad on Thursday night(9 February).

Andreas’ main focus for 2012 is the defense of his IRC Drivers’ title with ŠKODA UK Motorsport, which begins on the Sata Rallye Azores (23-25 February).

Source: Andreas Mikkelsen Official Website

Photos of Andreas Mikkelsen on Rally Finnskog 2012:

Photos by Andreas Mikkelsen Facebook Page

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Result - KNA Rally Finnskog 2012 - SS 2 - SS3

SS2:

1	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Citroen	A	0	3:54.6	0:00.0
2	2	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	3:57.8	0:03.2
3	53	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor	Mitsubischi EVO 6,5	A	0	4:00.8	0:06.2
4	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	SKODA S2000	A	2	4:07.0	0:12.4
5	6	Per Gunnar (PG) Andersson	Emil Axelsson	PROTON	A	2	4:08.7	0:14.1
6	5	Craig Breen	Gareth Roberts	Ford	A	2	4:12.4	0:17.8
7	8	Marius Aasen	Veronica Engan	Ford Fiesta S2000	A	2	4:16.0	0:21.4
8	4	Eyvind Brynildsen	Cato Menkerud	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	4:17.6	0:23.0
9	40	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	4:23.0	0:28.4
10	42	Petter Kristiansen	Ole Kristian Brennum	Skoda Fabia R2	A	5	4:36.7	0:42.1

Full result - KNA Rally Finnskog 2012 - SS 2

SS3:

1	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Citroen	A	0	12:50.9	0:00.0
2	53	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor	Mitsubischi EVO 6,5	A	0	13:05.5	0:14.6
3	2	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	13:17.1	0:26.2
4	4	Eyvind Brynildsen	Cato Menkerud	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	13:36.1	0:45.2
5	8	Marius Aasen	Veronica Engan	Ford Fiesta S2000	A	2	13:43.0	0:52.1
6	5	Craig Breen	Gareth Roberts	Ford	A	2	13:44.3	0:53.4
7	6	Per Gunnar (PG) Andersson	Emil Axelsson	PROTON	A	2	13:44.4	0:53.5
8	40	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	13:53.8	1:02.9
9	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	SKODA S2000	A	2	13:57.3	1:06.4
10	42	Petter Kristiansen	Ole Kristian Brennum	Skoda Fabia R2	A	5	14:55.4	2:04.5

Full result - KNA Rally Finnskog 2012 - SS3

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Result - KNA Rally Finnskog 2012 - SS 1

1	1	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	Citroen	A	0	7:34.5	0:00.0
2	53	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor	Mitsubischi EVO 6,5	A	0	7:36.1	0:01.6
3	2	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	7:36.4	0:01.9
4	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	SKODA S2000	A	2	7:50.9	0:16.4
5	4	Eyvind Brynildsen	Cato Menkerud	Ford Fiesta WRC	A	0	7:58.4	0:23.9
6	6	Per Gunnar (PG) Andersson	Emil Axelsson	PROTON	A	2	8:04.2	0:29.7
7	8	Marius Aasen	Veronica Engan	Ford Fiesta S2000	A	2	8:09.0	0:34.5
8	40	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	8:09.2	0:34.7
9	5	Craig Breen	Gareth Roberts	Ford	A	2	8:13.1	0:38.6
10	19	Ole Morten Korsmo	Tore Hellerud	Volvo 240	NAS	10	8:55.9	1:21.4

Full result here - KNA Rally Finnskog 2012 - SS 1

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Stars flock to Finnskog

Rally Finnskog includes eight stages, four individual tests run twice, varying in length from 6.97 kilometres to 23.78 kilometres. The event will be Hirvonen’s first taste of the Citroen DS3 WRC on loose-surface competition. He will, however, have tested the car ahead of the event.

Joining the Finn in Norway will be Fiesta RS WRC drivers Mads Ostberg and Eyvind Brynildsen, both of whom drive under the Adapta team banner. Ostberg needs no introduction, having led and challenged Hirvonen all the way through last year’s Rally Sweden before finishing a close second.

Andreas Mikkelsen is likely to be among the pace-setters in the Super 2000 category on Saturday, driving a Skoda Fabia. The Norwegian will be chased hard by PROTON’s P-G Andersson, who gives the Satria-Neo S2000 its debut on a snow rally, while bagging valuable set-up data ahead of next week’s Rally Sweden. Craig Breen is another top Super 2000 competitor in his Ford Fiesta, while Anders Grondal will provide a Group N benchmark in his Subaru.

Saturday won’t be the last time Norwegian rally fans see the stars of the World Rally Championship as Rally Sweden spends much of its opening day across the border on stages centred on the town of Kongsvinger.

Source: WRC.com

"Testdrive today with EVEN Rally team mate Pontus Tidemand – good fun!," said Mikkelsen in his Official Website

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Andreas and Ola with hat-trick after winning Mountain Rally

Andreas Mikkelsen’s 2012 rally season has begun in fine style after he scored victory on the opening round of the Norwegian Rally Championship, the snowy Mountain Rally in Norway. He also ended last season with two wins in a row.

Co-driven by Ola Fløene, the reigning Intercontinental Rally Challenge Champion won the Gol-based event (located in the Hallingdal region of Norway, 118 miles/190kms north-west of the capital city of Oslo) in his IRC title-winning ŠKODA Fabia S2000, finishing 7.2 seconds ahead of Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta S2000).

Østberg took the lead on the short opening stage, but Andreas – who was doing the event as a pre-season test – fought back and, despite a spin, claimed victory after all six stages had been completed.

Andreas: “It’s very nice to start the new season off with a rally win, and I am very pleased. It’s a long time since I’ve driven on snow and ice and having been away for two years it was great to rally in Norway again. We had to drive fast to beat Mads and even though we were here to test, competing against such a good driver meant we really had to focus on our driving – so it was a very good test situation for us.”

Andreas and Ola will next contest Rally Finnskog (4 February) as a final test in preparation for Rally Sweden (9–12 February), at which they’ll drive a Volkswagen Motorsport-entered ŠKODA Fabia S2000 alongside Sébastien Ogier.

Final Result - top 10:

1	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	Skoda Fabia S2000	A	2	44:11.5	0:00.0
2	1	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson (S)	Ford Fiesta RRC	A	1	44:18.7	0:07.2
3	3	Sveinung Bieltvedt	Roger Eilertsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	46:50.3	2:38.8
4	2	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	47:03.9	2:52.4
5	8	Bernt Kollevold	Ove Johnny Andersen	Mitsubishi EVO IX	N	3	47:42.7	3:31.2
6	10	Peder Økseter	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	47:48.8	3:37.3
7	13	Trond Sveinsvoll	Otto Øvestad	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	48:35.9	4:24.4
8	12	Geir Helge Frøslid	Ragnar Engen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	49:54.2	5:42.7
9	18	Petter Rolfsen	Anders Kjær	Ford Fiesta R2	A	5	50:32.3	6:20.8
10	17	Petter Kristiansen	Ole Kristian Brennum	Skoda Fabia R2	A	5	50:49.1	6:37.6

Source: Andreas Mikkelsen Official Website Photo: Benjamin A. Ward / www.benjaminward.no

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Andreas Mikkelsen won Mountain Rally 2012 + Pictures!

Andreas Mikkelsen and his co-driver Ola Floene won the Mountain Rally first round of the Norwegian Rally Championship driving a Skoda Fabia S2000. Andreas won the event by 7,2s ahead Mads Ostberg who drove a Ford Fiesta RRC.

"I am very pleased. We did not have a perfect setup on the car, but has been a good day. It was fun to run on home again, and it's a long time since I've driven in snow and ice," said Andreas.

"A good rally today! Lots of new things have been tested. Shame with start position, felt impossible to win..." said Ostberg in his Facebook page.

Mountain Rally is made up of six stages, totaling 81.59 kilometers.

Hopefully this one is the first one of many to come in 2012. Keep pushing Andreas! You are the man!

* Photo 2 : Benjamin A. Ward / www.benjaminward.no

Final Result - Top 10:

1	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	Skoda Fabia S2000	A	2	44:11.5	0:00.0
2	1	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson (S)	Ford Fiesta RRC	A	1	44:18.7	0:07.2
3	3	Sveinung Bieltvedt	Roger Eilertsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	46:50.3	2:38.8
4	2	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	47:03.9	2:52.4
5	8	Bernt Kollevold	Ove Johnny Andersen	Mitsubishi EVO IX	N	3	47:42.7	3:31.2
6	10	Peder Økseter	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	47:48.8	3:37.3
7	13	Trond Sveinsvoll	Otto Øvestad	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	48:35.9	4:24.4
8	12	Geir Helge Frøslid	Ragnar Engen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	49:54.2	5:42.7
9	18	Petter Rolfsen	Anders Kjær	Ford Fiesta R2	A	5	50:32.3	6:20.8
10	17	Petter Kristiansen	Ole Kristian Brennum	Skoda Fabia R2	A	5	50:49.1	6:37.6

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Andreas Mikkelsen is leading Mountain Rally after 4 SS

Andreas and Ola is back on snow for the first time since March 2009, and what a comeback. They have won three out of four stages and are leading by 18.3 sec yo Mads Østberg. Despite Andreas and Ola has a natural aspirated car compared to Øsbergs turbo-fiesta, he managed to drive bliztering fast in the norwegian mountains. Andreas on his side off course is happy to be 6th car on road, witch are a exellent position as Mads goes first on road. But anyway Mads was 2nd in Swedish Rally 2011 and are one of the fastest drivers in the world on snow.

1	7	Andreas Mikkelsen	Ola Fløene	Skoda Fabia S2000	A	2	32:59.6	0:00.0
2	1	Mads Østberg	Jonas Andersson (S)	Ford Fiesta RRC	A	1	33:18.0	0:18.4
3	3	Sveinung Bieltvedt	Roger Eilertsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	35:02.1	2:02.5
4	2	Anders Grøndal	Trond Svendsen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	35:25.6	2:26.0
5	8	Bernt Kollevold	Ove Johnny Andersen	Mitsubishi EVO IX	N	3	36:02.0	3:02.4
6	10	Peder Økseter	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	36:07.8	3:08.2
7	11	Jim Roger Haugom	Arne Martin Lundhaug	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	36:36.5	3:36.9
8	13	Trond Sveinsvoll	Otto Øvestad	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	36:38.9	3:39.3
9	12	Geir Helge Frøslid	Ragnar Engen	Subaru Impreza STi	N	3	37:44.1	4:44.5
10	18	Petter Rolfsen	Anders Kjær	Ford Fiesta R2	A	5	38:00.9	5:01.3

Source: Andreas Mikkelsen Official Website

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Mads Østberg vs Andreas Mikkelsen - Solberg Extreme 2011

TorsteinEr90

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