Andreas Mikkelsen admits that he improved his speed and his pace during last weekend, but he still misses a bit of knowledge on Rally1 cars.
The Norwegian signed a part-time contract with Hyundai Motorsport and made his Rally1 debut in Monte Carlo a few days ago. He finished in sixth overall with the i20N, but he could not match the pace of his teammates Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville. In fact, he was fighting for the back positions of the overall classification with Adrien Fourmaux and Gregoire Munster. Generally, he stayed out of trouble cpnsidering his first appearance with i20N Rally1 apart from two incidents when he reported a problem with the engine mapping at the end of Stage 1, as the car started to accelerate with the slower speed, and a locked-up coming into the first corner of SS9 resuliting in sliding up a grass banking and losing 46,7 seconds. His programme of 2024 includes his participation in tarmac rallies which means that he will get behind the wheel of the i20N at Croatia Rally on April 18-21.
"We have enjoyed this weekend", Mikkelsen said.
"On Saturday, we made a good improvement in our speed but we were cautious on Sunday because we were in the middle of no man’s land.
"We tried to give it a push on the Power Stage and we were only 0.3 seconds off the pace per kilometre, so we are getting closer and closer.
"These cars are awesome.
"To use the maximum potential of them you really need to be used to how they drive and I am still learning how quick you can go, especially in medium-high speed places where I’m not using the downforce enough.
"I’m just missing that extra bit of knowledge but with some more seat time, we should be good to go".
Photo Credits: Hyundai
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