Intercontinental Rally ChallengeIRC title joyfor MikkelsenThierry Neuville, on track to clinch the title, suffereda series of set-backs that cost him the lot.12Andreas Mikkelsen has become the youngestdriver to win the Intercontinental RallyChallenge after claiming victory on the seasonclosingCyprus Rally. Amid emotional scenescaptured live on Eurosport, Mikkeslen securedthe title by one and a half points from JanKopecky, sealing glory by going fastest on thefinal stage alongside co-driver Ola Fløene.Belguim’s Thierry Neuville — Peugeot’sonly main contender — failed early on the firstday following a puncture and then an alternatorf<strong>au</strong>lt, wiping out his chances in the rally.”Everything wasgoing perfectly upto the fourth stage,”lamented ThierryNeuville after hisretirement. ”My207 S2000 was verynicely balanced andI was able to stay onthe ideal line to postsome quick times.<strong>The</strong>re was noimpact, but my rearright tyre suddenlywent flat. I stopped tochange the wheel butI spotted blue smokecoming out of thebonnet just as I wasabout to get goingagain. <strong>The</strong> alternatorwarning light alsocame on.I completed thestage at slow speedbut I had no way torepair the problem, so I w<strong>asn</strong>’t able to go anyfurther.”Japan’s Toshi Arai won the in<strong>au</strong>gural IRCProduction Cup in his R4-specification SubaruImpreza STI with Jean-Michel Raoux, fromFrance, clinching the IRC 2WD Cup by a singlepoint ahead of Italian Stefano Albertini.Mikkelsen, driving a Škoda UK MotorsportFabia Super 2000 led for all but one stage ofthe mixed-surface event based in Pafos in thesouth-west of the Mediterranean island. One offive drivers in contention for the coveted IRCtitle at the start of the rally, Mikkelsen had towin the event in order to become champion.Apart from a spin on Friday and a punctureon Saturday morning, little troubled theNorwegian who becomes the fifth differentIRC champion in as many years. Mikkelsen,who switched to rallying as a 17-year-old wheninjury curtailed his promising skiing career, wasalmost forced to stop competing when he ranout of funding prior to the 2009 season.He hit back by securing a drive with Škoda’sUK importer for the 2011 season after impress-Nasser Al-Attiyah, last season’s Rally Cypruswinner, was unable to repeat the effort in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta.
Drivers’ standings:1. Mikkelsen 153.5 points2. Kopecký 1523. Hänninen 1254. Loix 1235. Neuville 1156. Bouffier 110.5Andreas Mikkelsen on his way to victory.ing in the IRC in 2010 ina privateer M-Sport FordFiesta. Despite a troubledstart on Rallye Monte-Carlo, when he crashedon the opening stage, heslowly improved his formand came close to winningseveral rallies before taking his maiden win onthe penultimate round in Scotland last monthto set up a title challenge in Cyprus. As well aswinning two rounds outright, Mikkelsen scoredmore stage wins than any other driver with atotal of 38 fastest times during the year.Nasser Al-Attiyah, last season’s CyprusRally winner, had started the final day withan outside chance of victory and went fastestof all on Saturday’s third stage. However, anengine failure meant he was unable to continueManufacturers’ standings:1. Škoda 362.5 points2. Peugeot 241.53. Subaru 1174. M-Sport 1075. Ralliart 1046. Honda 462011 Cyprus Rally — final positions1. Mikkelson/Floene, Škoda Fabia S2000, 2h25m18.5s2. Kopecký/Dresler, Škoda Fabia S2000, +1m40.5s3. Standell/Parmander, Škoda Fabia S2000, +2m54.8s4. Kruuda/Järveoja, Škoda Fabia S2000, +4m33.0s5. Loix/Miclotte, Škoda Fabia S2000, +5m25.4s6. Kahle/Göbel, Škoda Fabia S2000, +7m48.9safter midday service, handing second place tofactory Škoda driver Kopecký, who has beenrunner-up in the IRC standings for the last threeseasons.“<strong>The</strong>re was damage in the engine, whichis a big disappointment,” said Al-Attiyah. “Itwas fantastic before and I was really so happywith my performance against all these greatIRC drivers and live on Eurosport. But whatcan we do?”Patrik Sandell took third with his best finishof the season for Škoda Sweden claiminga stage victory to boot. Estonian teenagerKarl Kruuda, in a privateer Fabia, impressedin fourth, snatching the position from FreddyLoix when the Belgian’s BFO-backed Fabiadeveloped a mechanical f<strong>au</strong>lt on the penultimatestage.Matthias Kahle completed an all-Fabia topsix in his Škoda Auto Deutschland Fabia aftera solid display on his first visit to Cyprus. Andit got better for the German importer whenKahle’s team-mate Mark Wallenwein battledback from his double puncture on Friday tofinish eighth, one place behind IRC ProductionCup winner Toshi Arai.Outgoing IRC champion Juho Hänninenrestarted on day two under SuperRally regulationsfollowing his crash on Friday’s openingrun. Despite winning a stage he had to settle for16th overall, one place ahead of leading femaledriver Burcu Çetinkaya.Mikkelsen’s performance earned him theColin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy, awardedon each round of the IRC to the driver whoseperformance best embodies the spirit of therallying legend who won the Cyprus Rally 10years ago in 2001.Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway), Škoda FabiaS2000, first overall: “To become IRC championis such a fantastic feeling, the likes of which Ihave never felt before. It’s been a tough season,which didn’t start so well in Monte Carlo butwhich has just kept getting better and better.We’ve had a fantastic second half of the yearand wow, to finish with a win in Cyprus andthe IRC drivers’ title, I can hardly believe it hashappened. It’s like a dream.“I’d really like to thank everyone at ŠkodaUK Motorsport and Škoda Motorsport for andgiving me this opportunity this year. It’s a specialmoment for everyone. So much effort hasbeen put in over the last five years of my rallyingcareer, not just by me, but the people aroundme. To give this title back to everyone who hasbeen involved is incredible.”Pictures: Peugeot Sport & eWRC.cz13
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