Andreas Mikkelsen feels happy for his return back to the main category of World Rally Championship and believes that the new car and regulations create a different environment for him, but he is ready to accept the challenge and to push until the very last stage of Rallye Monte Carlo.
The Norwegian was competing as a full-season driver with Hyundai Motorsport from 2018 to 2019, but he lost his place over Ott Tanak in 2020 as the first one did not deliver the results that the team expected. He stayed out of the top WRC level for four years and secured a contract with Skoda Motorsport and Toksport in WRC2 class where he became WRC2 Champion two times. The market of 2024 in WRC was open since Kalle Rovanpera and Esapekka Lappi decided to do a partial season and Ott Tanak parted ways with M-Sport Ford. Mikkelsen had offers for a Rally1 seat from M-Sport Ford and Hyundai, but eventually he preferred to have a partial programme with the i20N to drive the Puma Rally1 in all rounds of this year's championship. He will start his season with Rallye Monte Carlo and Hyundai confirmed that he will take part in all tarmac events with the third car of the team.
"Coming back to the top class of rally from WRC2 is really exciting, and it feels really very good to return with Hyundai Motorsport", Mikkelsen said.
"A completely new car and regulations creates a different environment for me, but it I am ready to take on the challenge.
"I’m very happy to be starting with Monte-Carlo this year – it’s an exciting rally with so many factors at play.
"Tyre choice and strategy plays a big part in success there, which means it is possible to achieve a good result even when you don’t know the car so well and haven’t found maximum pace.
"I want to finish the rally in the best position possible, and after a win here in WRC2 in 2022, I am determined to push until the very last stage to collect as many points as we can".
Photo Credits: Toksport
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