57 Rally Costa Brava: Andreas Mikkelsen wins – Video

Mikkelsen Costa Brava 57 Rally Costa Brava: Andreas Mikkelsen wins Video

Andreas Mikkelsen won the 2009 Rally Costa Brava and beat all the renowned Spanish asphalt experts in the process.

Mikklesen took the lead during the second day, after making an inspired tyre choice for the final loop of the leg, in his MRT run Skoda Fabia S2000 which ran on Hankook tires.

"It was just fantastic," said Mikkelsen. "Before the last two stages, there was likely to be a little rain. Our team had people out on the stages and they reported that there was a chance that it would be dry on the penultimate stage. As the second-last stage was by far the longest of the two, we chose to gamble and run with soft compound cut slicks. It enabled us to secure the victory on the penultimate stage."

The Norwegian won by a margin of just 8.5 seconds in front of local expert Alberto Hevia's Fabia S2000.

Mikkelsen was fourth after Friday's three stages, which were run in darkness, and was 21.3 seconds behind leader Alberto Hevia.

On Saturday, however, Mikkelsen won the fourth and fifth stages and suddenly he was only 9.8 seconds behind the Spanish favorite, who earlier this year led the Spanish IRC-round ahead of the Skoda factory drivers. Mikkelsen made the decisive move on the penultimate stage, where he was quickestest, and then also set fastest time on the final test to insure victory.

In addition to Alberto Hevia, other known Spanish rally drivers such as Xavier Pons and Dani Sola were also contesting the Rally Costa Brava. Pons finished 3rd while Sola came home 5th in their respective Mitsubishi Lancers. Sergio Vallejo took 4th spot to secure the Spanish asphalt championship in his Porsche.

Mikkelsen's manager Erik Veiby commented: "This was an important victory for Andreas and Ola. Perhaps the best that they have achieved. The competition was absolutely top-class here, so this was important in preparing for next year's season. We are constantly in dialogue with several teams for next year, and it is important to compete internationally. Not least for Skoda, this was important, and the factory team has shown great interest in Andreas as far."

This was only the second race Mikkelsen and Floene run with Skoda. In addition to the victory at the weekend they drove to the place in the Rally Bohemia in the Czech Republic for only three weeks ago. In both races have Mikkelsen and Floene run for the Italian team MRT by Nocentini.

Rally Costa Brava was based in the famous resort of Lloret de Mar. The event began on Friday evening with three stages and there was a further six stages run on Saturday. There were nine stages in total at a distance of 153 km. The longest stage was 25.28 km long, and was run as SS2 on Friday.

57. RALLY COSTA BRAVA RESULTS
1. Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene (N) Skoda Fabia S2000 1:40.09,2
2. Alberto Hevia/Alberto Iglesias (E) Skoda Fabia S2000 +8,5
3. Xevi Pons/Alex Haro (E) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +51,5 (1. N)
4. Sergio Vallejo/Diego Vallejo (E) Porsche 911 GT3 +1.01,4 (1. GT)
5. Dani Sola/Oscar Sanchez (E) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +2.18,1 (2. N)
6. Josep Maria Membrado/Jordi Vilamala (E) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +4.19,1 (3. N)
7. Joan Vinyes/Jordi Mercader (E) Renault Clio R3 +4.53,3 (1. R3)
8. Albert Orriols/Lluis Pujolar (E) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +5.14,8 (4. N)
9. Jonathan Perez/Enrique Velasco (E) Renault Clio R3 +6.24,3 (2. R3)
10. Mario Ceballos/Borja Hernandez (E) Subaru Impreza WRX STI N14 +7.31,7 (5. N)

SPANISH ASPHALT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Vallejo 232, 2. Pons 230, 3. Ojeda 220,5, 4. Fuster 170, 5. Vinyes 147,5, 6. Hevia 145.