Mikkelsen punctures hopes of victory

Another rally and another chance of that elusive tarmac victory gone for Andreas Mikkelsen. Norwegian IRC champion lost concentration in one of the corners in stage 5 and hit a pole, damaging the wheel.

Resulting puncture took forever to fix due to malfunctioning jack but as he said at the finish of the stage, Mikkelsen have only himself to blame for yet another episode of what Ford WRC team would call “bad luck” and should instead be called “bad judgement”.

Mikkelsen is now determined to salvage as many points possible, hoping he can climb up to sixth position.

Meanwhile, leader after two out of five special stages is Dani Sordo in his Mini John Cooper Works RRC. Spaniard admitted of pushing hard on SS 5, not knowing Mikkelsen had lost time, but will most likely be able to approach remaining stages a bit more relaxed thanks to over 20 second gap he currently enjoys in front of Jan Kopecky.