Andreas Mikkelsen reveals that he used the same set-up as Oliver Solberg at Rally Finland after having seeing the last one's times in Estonia and says that this change was in the wrong direction.
The Norwegian driver finished in fourth place overall in Finland in WRC2 class and started this rally with having the same set-up as Solberg had during Rally Estonia. However, the changes did not match with his driving style, therefore he brought back the settings he had on his Skoda at the end of Saturday midday service. During Rally Finland, he did not stay out of trouble and lost time as he faced some problems with the brakes and the damper while he suffered from a puncture. As he will compete only in six events this year in comparison with his rivals who are set to take part in seven rallies, it was very important for him to win at Rally Finland with the view of increasing further his championship lead. Yohan Rossel and Sami Pajari are behind Mikkensen on the drivers' standings for five and eleven points respectively after the end of ninth WRC round.
"After seeing Oliver’s speed in Estonia where he was really quick, I wanted to try that", Mikkelsen said.
"On our pre-event test here it was raining really heavily so it was really impossible to try anything, so I decided to start the rally like he is used to driving the car and for me it didn’t work at all.
"I had no precision, couldn’t trust the car to do what I wanted with my driving style.
"So step by step we changed and by midday Saturday I was fully back on my Estonia and also my setup that I’m using for all the rallies in this car.
"And then I felt really good straightaway.
"We were fastest on the splits in Päijälä before I lost my brakes so this was a good feeling to know that we are still there.
"We hoped to have a better end result.
"I have to admit I made a mistake coming into the event wanting to try something new for the setup on this event and it didn’t work.
"But at the same time if you are never willing to try new things you will never improve so…
"OK this was a step in the wrong direction, so when we changed back, I felt at peace with the car again and I could drive like how I wanted to.
"I wish I could start the rally over like that but anyway a fourth place with some valuable points we are now up in the lead of the championship so that is good, but unfortunately we hoped for better than fourth".
Source: DirtFish.com
Photo Credits: Toksport
Post a Comment