Andreas Mikkelsen had a perfect year. The Norwegian driver set himself the goal at the beginning of the season to be the king of the ‘Rally2’ category as the only way to return to the premier class of the WRC. And the first part of the plan have worked perfectly. In fact, Andreas has been proclaimed champion of the WRC2 category of the World Championship and the European Rally Championship (ERC) in seven days from the hand of Toksport WRT. All in all, his enormous performance at the controls of the team’s Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo it seems that it will not have a prize, at least beyond these successes.
Mikkelsen is still immersed in the ‘hangover’ of having won the WRC2 in Spain, despite not competing in the RACC Rally, and a week later having also conquered the ERC in Hungary. Nevertheless, these results do not clarify the future of the Norwegian rider and Andreas Mikkelsen is clear about it: “Obviously we would love to return to the WRC premier class, but it is very difficult at the moment because there are not many seats available to achieve my goal. There are many very good drivers out there so it is very difficult at the moment. It seems that the effort made is not enough, at least for now.
In the end, Hyundai and Toyota have completed their driver lineups for 2022 in a single move, the signing of Esapekka Lappi to the Japanese manufacturer. For its part, M-Sport has acquired the services of Craig Breen and the other cars of the team seem to be for Gus Greensmith and Adrien Formaux, to which we must add the variable of Sébastien Loeb. Meanwhile, Mikkelsen remains the best possible ‘wild card’ in the face of any script change: «I feel like we’re first in line if something happens, but like I said it’s not easy. All I can do is be there and be the first when an opportunity arises. We will see, but now it’s hard».