Andreas Mikkelsen came within kilometres of his maiden win in the WRC last weekend, until he fluffed his lines and got caught in a snow bank on a thrilling final stage of the rally that his team mate Sebastien Ogier sensationally won.
This was hard to swallow for the young Norwegian, who couldn't hide his emotions to the media as he was very tearful when he arrived back to the service park. Ogier - who now is equal with Carlos Sainz with 26 WRC victories - was kind to Andreas, saying: "Don't cry, don't cry. You will win so many rallies, I am sure." Sebastien has every right to believe Mikkelsen can win so many rallies because I too believe he can. This was the first time Mikkelsen really found himself in control of a rally, being the one that everybody was hunting down rather than being the hunter. This pressure showed at times, as on Saturday he made a few little mistakes which at point managed to slash his 20 second lead down to just 1.7 seconds. But he resiliently fought back to end the day ahead of his illustrious team mate, and on Sunday he managed to pull away from the flat-out Hyundai of Thierry Neuville. On that final stage he was doing enough, but perhaps he was over-driving his Polo. Andreas is a driver who wears his heart on his sleeve, which brings with it advantages of determination and raw speed but has a negative side where the emotions can get the better of you. This is maybe why he didn't manage to complete the job, and his World Champion team mate who is as cool as a cucumber did. If Andreas can gain some mental toughness he will shine. Jari-Matti Latvala is proof that mental state is very significant in this game. As for Ogier, well he has enjoyed his best start ever to a World Rally Championship season, winning 2 out of 2. He already has almost an event win's worth of points to protect him going into Mexico. But it is a long season and Ogier is likely to struggle in Mexico with opening the road so anything is still possible. Expect Mikkelsen to come back stronger and Latvala to be fired up. On a final note, Citroen are languishing in 4th in the manufacturers championship. 4th! I don't remember ever seeing them so low down the order.
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WRCArticles covering the World Rally Championship Archives
January 2018
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