Andreas Mikkelsen got his title defence
off to the perfect start on the Sata Rally Azores with 25.1 sec
winning margin over team-mate and former IRC Champion Juho Hanninen.
It was a close fought affair through
the first, albeit short, first day. A puncture didn't stop Andreas
Mikkelsen taking first blood with a 3 sec win on SS1. Hanninen fought
back on the next test, taking 2 secs back but lost two tenths on the
Super Special. This left Mikkelsen with a 1.4 sec overnight lead, a
slim margin by anyone's books.
Away from the fight for the lead, Bryan
Bouffier was third in the first of only two Peugeots entered. The
Frenchman was well back, 23 secs off the lead after only 3 stages.
Team-mate and winner here 2 years ago Bruno Magalhaes was fourth, 7
secs off his team-mate. However, Bouffier did note that the two Skoda
men ahead of him are both “gravel experts”.
Day two shaped up to be a terrific
fight between the two Skoda men. However, this never happened as
Mikkelsen continued to prove his maturity and edge away. Then,
perhaps most critically, Hanninen spun on the days second stage, but
he himself believed he wasn't out of the fight, stating he must “beat
that young Norwegian guy”.
After the spin, and the sheer pace of
the 'young Norwegian guy', Hanninen had to find 16.2 secs to snatch
the lead. Such was Mikkelsen's pace, Hanninen has only managed one
stage win, SS7 by a scant 0.1 secs.
Bryan Bouffier, in the sole remaining
Peugeot entry, is nearly guaranteed third after team-mate Bruno
Magalhaes rolled his Peugeot out of the rally on SS6, end his rally
on the spot and most likely a shot at an extend IRC programme.
The final day in the Azores was set to
be either a walk in the park for Andreas Mikkelsen or an emphatic
fight-back from Juho Hanninen. It proved for former as the Norwegian
swept to four stage wins out of the first four of the day, extending
his lead to 27.4 secs. Hanninen took back 2.3 secs on the final stage
but it wasn't enough to stop Mikkelsen taking his first win of the
year.
Mikkelsen said: "This is a perfect
start to the season for Skoda UK. It couldn't be better. It's been a
tough fight with Juho through the whole weekend. We had a great
battle. The team did a great job coming into the rally, through the
rally, and now we're going to have a good time after the rally."
In the final results table, Bryan
Bouffier took third for Peugeot, 1 min 39.7 secs down. When looking
at this result, it may seem a daunting prospect for Bouffier to take
the fight to the Skodas. However, with only two more pure gravel
rallies, Bouffier may be able to use his tarmac experience to great
effect on the remaining nine tarmac events.
5 mins off the lead was Sepp Wiegand,
who was embroiled in a fight over fourth with fellow German Hermann
Gassner Jr., up until the later make a late visit into the scenery.
Gassner Jr. took fifth, with fastest local driver Ricardo Moura
sixth, nearly 9 mins off the lead. Oleksandr Salyuk was seventh in
the final S2000 in the Top 10, with Sergio Silva, Ruben Rodrigues and
Miguel Barbosa round out the Top 10.
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