Andreas Mikkelsen

[Tarmop]

I agree that Top3 is possible, especially when others "help", but...he was a Top 3 driver last year and now he hasn`t got so much experience.

[Luijbregts]

My thoughts exactly. A driver of his caliber will not have so much problems adapting to a new car.

[mknight]

It took Ogier 4 rallies to adapt.

[Tarmop]

Well...4x WDC had and the reason was/ is said to be low amount of testing km`s, so you can`t say that it`s so easy to get to the grips with the car (that allows you to challenge p1) immedeately.

[N.O.T]

It took Ogier 4 rallies to adapt.

he was still slower than his team mate...

british i presume ?

[er88]

Having driven the Hyundai, and the Polo, he will have the most objective view of the C3's performance... So that might be part of the reason Citroen want him, feedback on the car and setup.

And of course that will help him adapt having sampled other cars already. Good luck to him, assuming there is no reliability issues with driver or car and he builds up the speed quickly I reckon a podium is realistic.

Good point. Knowing now that their car isn't the best and they don't have any worthwhile "secrets" to hide, this is a chance for another top driver to give them unbiased feedback on the positives and negatives, and where they need to improve. He will for sure be able to compare all 3 cars.

[sollitt]

The way some are posting here, and have for some time, we would think Mikkelsen was the reincarnation of Sebastian Loeb.
He's certainly a very capable driver and should be in a WRC seat. Hopefully he'll secure a full time drive and bring some stability and consistency to Citroen's effort.
But he's no world beater. He has no history of success at Sardegna. There's no justification for any suggestion that he'll be contesting the win or even on the podium.
He may well be, but it's certainly not a given ... or even a likelihood.

[mknight]

a) I don't think he will fight for win, for all the published reasons (1 day of testing, bad history in Sardinia++), and no I don't think he is second Loeb.

but

b) The justification for any suggestions that he'll be contesting for the win is very simple he won the last WRC round he took part in, beating all the other drivers by speed only and he led it from stage 3 to finish.

[sollitt]

... he won the last WRC round he took part in, beating all the other drivers by speed only[/b] and he led it from stage 3 to finish.

A very good result and well deserved. But form is temporary and he has not proven to be a consistent performer. At the end of the day he was one of a handful of drivers playing 2nd fiddle to Ogier last year over whom you could throw a blanket in terms of speed, performance etc...
If anything will prepare him for a good result in Italy it will be the time spent wringing the neck of the WRC2 car and the possibility that may transfer into speed in the top league.

[Duvel]

A very good result and well deserved. But form is temporary and he has not proven to be a consistent performer. At the end of the day he was one of a handful of drivers playing 2nd fiddle to Ogier last year over whom you could throw a blanket in terms of speed, performance etc...
If anything will prepare him for a good result in Italy it will be the time spent wringing the neck of the WRC2 car and the possibility that may transfer into speed in the top league.

Just great to see Andreas back in a WRC car. I dont think he will be battling for the victory straight away. It took some time before he was consistant top 3 driver in the `16 Polo.

Speed transfer from wrc2 car to wrc17 car could even mean crashing out also.