Andreas Mikkelsen
Andreas Mikkelsen (born 22 June 1989 Oslo) is a Norwegian rally driver.
- 2.1 Title
- 2.2 WRC results
- 2.3 IRC results
Career
Entry into rallying
Andreas Mikkelsen operation in his youth sports Alpine Skiing and from 2003 to 2004 motocross. In both sports, he belonged to the Norwegian youth national team. A knee injury forced him to cease exercising the ski and motocross racing at the highest level. Then he turned his attention to the age of 16, rallying. Andreas Mikkelsen trained with a Ford Focus rallying to his side even then Ola Fløene as co- pilot.
Mikkelsen moved in 2006 to the UK because he was there to make his driver's license at age 17. After receiving the license, he took part in some of the smaller, national rallies and scored five wins in Britain as well as a victory in Estonia ( Saaremaa Rally ). He became the youngest rally driver, who previously won a rally in the UK. In the Rally of Great Britain he was in a Ford Focus RS WRC 05 of the team Ramsport his debut in the World Rally Championship.
WRC 2007-2014
In 2007, Mikkelsen participated in eight World Rally Championship races. For the start of the Rally Norway Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg issued a special permit, as Mikkelsen still had no Norwegian driving on public roads. The rally, he finished in tenth place, which he achieved a first moderate success in the WRC. At the Rally Ireland, he scored with a 9th place his best result of the season and missed the points just barely. At the end of the season he was 06 a current vehicle with the Ford Focus RS WRC.
Mikkelsen received support from 2008 by former World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm, who was named after his career end to Mikkelsen's mentor. At the start of the season he won the Rally Sweden with fifth place his first World Cup points. He set the record to have achieved so far as the youngest driver WRC points. A week later he won his first rally in the Norwegian Rally Championship, becoming the youngest ever driver also who achieved this success. In the rest of the season, he won three more rallies in the Norwegian Championship. However, he lost the duel for the title just ahead of Mads Østberg and had to settle for the runner. In the World Rally Championship Mikkelsen contributed from the Rally Germany a Ford Focus RS WRC 07 In this rally, he scored his first fastest time on a special stage. Then he finished the Rally of Catalonia in eighth place, making him the second time managed a point placement. At the end of the season, he finished with five points in the WRC 16 championship course.
In 2012, Mikkelsen managed with a Ford Focus World Cup Rank 14 with 13 points. In 2013, Mikkelsen got a contract with Volkswagen Motorsport Junior Team and drove ten rallies. With 50 World Cup points, he finished 10th in the World Cup final settlement. Also in 2014 goes Mikkelsen, with co-driver Mikko Markkula, at Volkswagen. In the Monte Carlo Rally, he finished seventh. At the next world championship race in Sweden he goes to second place and thus on the podium.
Alternating in the IRC and WRC
After the 2008 season, Mikkelsen separated because of some differences from the team Ramsport. The economic crisis was preparing additional difficulties, the budget for take-offs in the World Championship was missing, so he largely withdrew from the WRC. His father, an industrialist Steinar Mikkelsen, drove back its financial support from 2009, so had his son himself together looking sponsor funds for its rally racing. Erik Veiby, chairman of the Rally Norway, became his manager. With a Subaru Impreza WRX STI Group N were Mikkelsen 2009 guest appearance at the Rally Norway. Otherwise, he drove in the Norwegian Rally Championship, in which he won the Group N classification. His only appearance in a World Rally Car in the WRC he drove in the Rally of Poland, when he went with a Škoda Fabia WRC at the start, but failed with engine failure. He gave a Opel Corsa OPC S2000 in Barum Czech Rally Zlín his debut in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. In September 2009, Mikkelsen had a serious accident in which his vehicle detected a 10 -year-old spectator, who still died at the accident site at the Rally Larvik in Norway.
The 2010 season Mikkelsen began first in the Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the Norwegian Rally Championship. Ford chose him for the opening round of the WRC, Rally Sweden, from this, the new Ford Fiesta S2000 to pilot in his WRC debut. The rally, he finished in eleventh place in the overall standings and the second best driver with a Super 2000 car. Then he went back to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and completed with a Ford Fiesta S2000 seven rallies. He reached his best IRC result with second place in the Rally of Scotland. He finished the season with 21 points ranked seventh in the overall rating. At the end of the season he came in the Škoda Fabia S2000 from the Škoda Rally Team Italia again on individual inserts in the WRC. In the Rally of Great Britain, he scored with the tenth overall a WRC point and won the class victory in the SWRC.
Late 2010 signed a contract Mikkelsen at Škoda UK for the 2011 season. Rally his matches he did not have to now pay for itself. In addition, he was inducted into the Academy of drivers FIA 2011. With the Škoda Fabia S2000, he drove the entire 2011 season. Sata Rallye Açores In 2011, he delivered a long time a duel for the victory with Juho Hänninen and ended the rally finally in second. In the Mecsek Rally he retired in the lead on the penultimate special stage and in the following San Remo Rally, he was beaten by just 1.5 seconds from Thierry Neuville. Finally, in the Rally of Scotland succeeded him with a clear lead his first win in the IRC. So he set out at once for until then youngest winner of an IRC Rally. Before the last rally Mikkelsen was on the fourth place in the drivers' standings and still had chances for the title. With a win in Cyprus, he won the IRC overall standings 2011.
Statistics
Title
- Intercontinental Rally Challenge 2011
- Norwegian Rally Championship (Group N): 2009