Andreas Mikkelsen lined up at Rally Regione Piemonte

Selected by Hyundai to compete in the Croatian rally (April 18-21), Andreas Mikkelsen will complete a preparatory race in Italy. The Norwegian will have to take advantage of this opportunity in Piedmont to perfect his knowledge of his Korean mount.

His arrival at Hyundai was one of the surprises of the last transfer market. What was even more surprising was that the Norwegian had been recruited to carry out a program mainly composed of rounds on asphalt (he should also do at least one event on gravel). This began in January with the Monte-Carlo.

Having not operated an elite car in the world since Wales 2019 (3^e on Hyundai i20 WRC) and having to discover the i20 Rally1 equipped with the hybrid in the race, he signed a discreet performance (6^e of the general and the 5^es time as best performance). In order to put it in ideal conditions at the start of Croatia, the team based in Alzenau in Germany decided to add a rally preparation for the test day that Andreas and his co-pilot Torstein Eriksen will carry out before the launch of the 4^e round of the season.

The Norwegian crew will take part in the Rally Regione Piemonte which takes place in the Alba region, around sixty kilometers south-east of Turin. If the 34-year-old Nordic will discover this event which does not count for the Italian championship, Hyundai is accustomed to it. In 2020, Thierry Neuville won there ahead of the i20 WRCs ofOtt Tänak and Pierre-Louis Loubet. In 2021, it was Oliver Solberg who won, with Tänak again taking 2^e instead.

After the Santo Stefano shakedown on Friday (April 12), competitors will have 10 stages and 111,83 timed kilometers to compete.

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