Mikkelsen: A crazy past in Ireland

Le Rally of Ireland will be a first surprise this season since it represents a new event on the IRC calendar. Azores Rally winner Andreas Mikkelsen was in an intense battle with Jan Kopecky to take his first victory on asphalt at the Canary Islands Rally, but the reigning champion had to settle for second place after being betrayed by his mechanics. But the Norwegian is not giving up on training at the start of the week to prepare for the Irish specials by completing 200km with different configurations to find the perfect set-up.

The Skoda driver returns to land on which he has not driven since the age of 17. “Coming back to Ireland this week brings back a lot of memories from 2007, especially seeing how crazy I was when I was 17! I didn't care if the stages were wide and fast or narrow and bumpy. I just ran everywhere! I'm coming back to Ireland a little more mature, hopefully this will allow me to have a weekend without too many problems. I'm starting to get the feeling of Irish roads again. We have two days of testing, the first was dry and the second wet. I was very comfortable in both conditions and I feel ready. I've never driven the roads we'll be on this weekend, but they should be pretty similar to those used for testing. »