Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Anders Jæger lead the way on day 1 of the 2017 Rally de Espana after a stunning debut in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC.
“We could not have asked for a better start to our Hyundai Motorsport career.” said the Norwegian. “It has been a good day and I have been pleased with our approach.
“We started this morning carefully, to understand the car’s behaviour and generally just finding our feet. A few changes to the settings allowed us to gain some time through the first Terra Alta run.”
The former Volkswagen Motorsport works driver has been out of a full time drive since the departure of the German marque at the end of the 2016 season. Since then he has driven in the WRC2 class for Skoda and at three WRC class rallies for Citroen before ending up at Hyundai with a deal until the end of the 2019 season.
Credit: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool
“The car felt very stable and there were no surprises. In the afternoon, we became more and more confident in the car.”
Even though Mikkelsen is commanding the lead of the rally it wasn’t plain sailing.
“The final stage wasn’t ideal; we thought we had a puncture so took it a bit easier. We made it to the end safely and it’s nice to be fighting at the very top.
“It’s really close but it has definitely been a positive start for Anders and myself.”
