Things didn’t exactly go according to plan for Volkswagen Motorsport, when it competed in the Neste Oil Rally Finland last weekend. Neither the pairing of Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene or Joonas Lindroos/Pasi Kilpeläinen managed to complete the event, which Volkswagen entered in readiness for 2013, when its new Polo R WRC begins its attack on the championship.
The young drivers, who were invited to take part – in a SWRC Škoda Fabia S2000 – had been hoping to impress team director Kris Nissen, but their chance was cut short after Lindroos rolled his Fabia on special stage eight, while a stone in the radiator of Mikkelsen’s car meant retirement on stage seventeen.
22-year old Mikkelsen had shown great promise, holding 15th position in the overall standings at that time, and completing his final stage with the second fastest time in the SWRC category.
“On the whole I really enjoyed the weekend with Volkswagen Motorsport. The atmosphere in the team is fantastic and I hope that it wasn’t my last rally for them.,” said Mikkelsen.
[Source: Volkswagen Motorsport]