Selv om Andreas Mikkelsen ikke kjørte helgens VM-runde i Spania, har han nå sikret seg gullet i WRC2. Fjorårsmester Mads Østberg, ble nummer fire i Spania, og da ble gullet til Mikkelsen sikret. Men Østbergs kartleser, Torstein Eriksen, sikret gullet for kartlesere. Les mer i denne pressemeldingen fra Skoda:
Salou (ESP), 17 October 2021 – Although he was only spectating, Andreas Mikkelsen left
RallyRACC Rally de España as newly crowned WRC2 Driver’s champion*. With only one
more round to go in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the ŠKODA Motorsport test
driver holds the WRC2 overall lead ex–aequo with fellow Norwegian Mads Østberg. As
Mikkelsen has achieved more category victories over the season and Østberg cannot score
points at the season’s finale, Mikkelsen is mathematically champion. In contrast, the title
race in WRC3, the category reserved for private drivers, is still open. Kajetan Kajetanowicz
(ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo) from Poland finished second in Spain and conquered the WRC3
points lead. The category victory went to Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hämäläinen from Finland,
who competed in a Toksport WRT run ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo.
Andreas Mikkelsen of ŠKODA Motorsport supported team Toksport WRT was watching RallyRACC
Rally de España from the sidelines. The Norwegian had chosen to skip the Spanish WRC round,
because WRC2 regulations allow each driver to score championship points on a maximum of seven
of the twelve events. With six results already in the books, Mikkelsen will be back in action during
the next round in Monza. In Catalonia, the pressure was on his championship rival Mads Østberg.
Norwegian as well, he had to finish third or higher in WRC2 to keep the title race open until the
season’s finale in Italy. But Østberg only managed to take fourth position, eventually equalling
Mikkelsen’s points score – not enough to beat his compatriot.
“It’s super weird to win the WRC2 Drivers’ title while sitting in the service park. Still, it’s an incredible
feeling to take overall victory against such a tough competition. The season went perfect, my
ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo was reliable all the way,” Mikkelsen commented. Michal Hrabánek, Head
of ŠKODA Motorsport, added: “Congratulations to Andreas for winning the 2021 WRC2 Drivers’
title. I’m proud of our cooperation with him, which started already twelve years ago with the ŠKODA
FABIA S2000. Today Andreas added another valuable championship to the impressive title
collection of the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo.”
With Mikkelsen absent, Marco Bulacia/Marcelo der Ohannesian (BOL/ARG) and Nikolay
Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov from Russia flew the ŠKODA flag in WRC2. Although competing
for the first time on world level at the wheel of a ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, Gryazin was on the
pace right from the start. He reached the finish after 280 competitive kilometres second in the
category. Similar to Andreas Mikkelsen, his Toksport WRT team mate Marco Bulacia was not eligible to score WRC2 points at RallyRACC Rally de España. Nevertheless, the 21 years old from
Bolivia decided to compete to improve his tarmac driving skills. That strategy worked well, until the
South–American crew had to retire their ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo after a minor off. However,
Marco Bulacia still holds third overall in WRC2.
Meanwhile in WRC3, Emil Lindholm and co–driver Reeta Hämäläinen were the dominant crew. The
2021 Finnish Champions in the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo of team Toksport WRT took the WRC3
lead right from the start. Winning seven of the 17 stages, they never really were challenged. Much
more intense was the fight for runner–up position in the category. ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo crew
Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak from Poland and Pepe Lopez/Borja Rozada of Rally
Team Spain repeatedly swapped that position. When the locals had to retire due to a technical
issue on Sunday morning, 18 championship points for second plus five for winning the Powerstage
finally went to Kajetanowicz. Going into the season’s finale, the ŠKODA driver from Poland is the
points leader. As similar to WRC2 not all results are counting for the final score, the WRC3 title fight
goes down to the wire at FORUM8 ACI Rally Monza.
In total four more ŠKODA crews made it into the top 10 of WRC3, led by 2019 FIA European Rally
Champions Chris Ingram/Ross Whittock (GBR/GBR) in fourth. With the support of ŠKODA
Motorsport, 21 years old Dominik Stříteský and co–driver Jiří Hovorka competed their very first
world championship round. After a strong start, the Czech talent had to retire after he rolled his
Toksport WRT run ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo into a field.
With the WRC2 Driver’s championship already decided, two more titles races are still open until the
season’s finale, FORUM8 ACI Rally Monza in Italy (19–21 November 2021). ŠKODA Motorsport
supported team Toksport WRT fights for the WRC2 Team’s crown while Kajetan Kajetanowicz has
the WRC3 Driver’s title in reach.
* subject to confirmation by the FI