Mikkelsen: opening day in Zlin will be crucial - News

  • Mikkelsen Cze 07
    01 September 2012 10:17 Mikkelsen: opening day in Zlin will be crucial Reigning Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen reckons today’s eight Tarmac special stages will prove pivotal in the outcome of Barum Czech Rally Zlín.

    Due to be run in wet conditions, the stages on Saturday are more bumpy, narrow and technical than Sunday’s tests.

    Mikkelsen, who heads the IRC drivers’ standings by 49 points for ŠKODA UK Motorsport, said: “Day one and day two here in [Zlín] are pretty different. Day one is a lot more bumpy, narrow and more technical and the second day is all about high speed, driving lines and wider roads.

    “A lot of the stages are the same as last year, albeit run in the opposite direction, and there is one completely new stage – which is really quite tricky. It’s the second stage of the rally, the first one on Saturday morning. It’s more or less a fun stage, but it’s hard to see where you are going and there is a high risk of getting a puncture, so you need to be clean with your lines.

    “Except for one stage, which was used last year, Ola [Fløene, my co-driver] and I have written brand new pacenotes for this event, and we feel quite comfortable on these roads.

    “All the stages on this rally will be important, but if you have a good first day, with a clean run and no mistakes, then you’ll have everything to play for because the second day is not so difficult.”

    Both runs of today’s Slušovice stage will be shown live on Eurosport and free-to-air Czech TV.

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