Andreas Mikkelsen og Torstein Eriksen vant WRC2-klassen i Rally Sverige, foran Ole Christian Veiby og Stig Rune Skjærmoen. Les mer i denne pressemeldingen fra Skoda.
Umeå, 27 February 2022 – It was a battle of the Norwegians. Andreas Mikkelsen and co–
driver Torstein Eriksen (ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo) beat their compatriots Ole Christian
Veiby/Stig Rune Skjærmoen in the fight for WRC2 victory at Rally Sweden (24–27 February
2022). After category win at the season opening Rallye Monte–Carlo and now again at the
second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, reigning WRC2 Champion Mikkelsen
enjoys a perfect start to his title defence.
Andreas Mikkelsen started the championship’s only proper winter rally cautiously. “I am trying not to
take any risks – it’s too early to go flat–out and it’s very easy to make a mistake. We are trying to be
clever and drive at a good pace,“ he said after the opening stages. But the reigning WRC2
Champion from Norway soon realized, that “not to take any risk“ would mean to wave good–bye to
all hopes of winning the category. Consequently, the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo crew changed its
strategy and increased the pace. And it worked. After the end of the Friday leg, Mikkelsen/Eriksen
had conquered the category lead with an advantage of 4.1 seconds over fellow Norwegians Ole
Christian Veiby/Stig Rune Skjærmoen.
Mikkelsen’s Toksport WRT teammates Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov followed in third, at
that point leading the WRC2 Juniors’ classification. They defended that position until Sunday
morning. But during the penultimate stage, their ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo ended up in a snow
bank. Similar incidents costed Finnish Rally Champions Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hämäläinen and
South–Americans Marco Bulacia/Marcelo der Ohannesian (BOL/ARG), both crews driving Toksport
WRT run ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, all chances for a top result.
Meanwhile, Mikkelsen/Eriksen and Veiby/Skjærmoen continued their fight for WRC2 victory.
Mikkelsen even had to give P1 to Veiby for one stage on Saturday. But in the following test, he re–
established the order again. Only during the final leg on Sunday, the duel seemed to be settled.
Mikkelsen/Eriksen extended their lead, in the end winning by 23.2 seconds. “It’s been one of my
best fights. Ole Christian has been doing a great rally. I know he has worked super hard over the
last twelve months, so I am really happy for him to come here and deliver such a good result,”
Mikkelsen was full of praise for his opponent. Nevertheless, with the second WRC2 victory in as
many rallies, his project title defence couldn’t have a better start.