It didn’t go as planned in Chile for Andreas Mikkelsen, who came to the new South-America fixture with a great feeling, after his convincing podium in Argentina only two weeks ago. – I was a bit too aggressive with my pace-notes, and it didn’t work at all, Andreas explains after he finished the rally in 7th position.
Rally Chile got on to a good start for Andreas and co-driver Anders Jaeger-Amland, who set the fastest time on Shakedown Thursday morning with their Hyundai Coupe i20 WRC. – It all felt great after shakedown, and I really thought we could take that good feeling with us into the rally. Sadly that never happened!
This was the first time for Chile on the WRC-calendar, and the crews had a big job during the two recce-days ahead of the rally, to get the correct pace notes. Thick fog also played a part when the drivers went through the stages at the beginning of the week. – This rally has been a real disappointment after the high that we had in Argentina. I am sure we can pinpoint the error back to the recce. We took very aggressive pace notes, and following a few small moments, I was never truly able to trust the notes as much as we need to. In the end, we were in a bit of no man’s land, so we took a cautious approach and focused on making improvements for the future. It was also important for us to get to the finish line to secure the manufacturer points for the team.
Andreas’ team-mate Thierry Neuville had to retire from the event after he rolled on Saturday, while Sebastien Loeb, also team-mate, took his first podium with the team with securing third place. Next rally is Portugal the end of this month. – All eyes and focus are now on the upcoming Rally Portugal, a rally we know and a rally we have always enjoyed!
Óverall Classification Rally Chile 2019:
1 Tanak
2 Ogier +23,1
3 Loeb +30,2
4 Evans +1.36,7
5 Suninen +3.15,6
6 Lappi +3.45,4
7 Mikkelsen +4.39,0
8 Meeke +7.33,4
All the best,