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The Norwegian ace, IRC champion in 2010, is in third position, 4.3s behind leader Sepp Wiegand after two stages.
He said: “These have been one of the two most difficult gravel stages I’ve ever done. They are very twisty and slippery and I didn’t have so much confidence with the grip to push, so I didn’t push at all.”
Mikkelsen has opted to run on hard-compound tyres for the afternoon loop of stages although he has taken two soft compound tyres in the event of damp conditions. Wiegand will continue on soft compound tyres only.
Mikkelsen Andreas
168 pt.
Kopecký Jan
101 pt.
Hänninen Juho
93 pt.
Wiegand Sepp
73 pt.
Consani Robert
97 pt.
Arai Toshi
86 pt.
Aigner Andreas
83 pt.
Tempestini Marco
63 pt.
Hunt Harry
126 pt.
Consani Robert
87 pt.
Kangur Martin
51 pt.
Campedelli Simone
50 pt.
Breen Craig