Andreas Mikkelsen boosted his Intercontinental Rally Challenge title chances after securing his second win of the season with a dominant drive in the Sibiu Rally Romania.
Despite a technical issue on Friday and a puncture on Saturday, Mikkelsen enjoyed a very smooth run to victory, more than five minutes clear of 2nd-placed Patrick Flodin.
A suspension damage for Sepp Wiegand on Saturday morning meant that second place or even a first ever podium finish on international level for the young German would be impossible.
Sepp’s misfortune elevated Patrik Flodin to second despite a broken wheel which dropped the Swedish to last on stage two. This marked Flodin’s and his Petter Solberg-run team’s maiden IRC podium.
Frenchman and former WRC driver Francois Delecour overcame suspension problems on his Peugeot on Saturday to complete the podium.
Leading finishers after SS12: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda UK 2h13m47.4s 2. Patrik Flodin Solberg Ford + 5m32.9s 3. Francois Delecour Munaretto Peugeot + 11m52.2s 4. Vitaliy Pushkar Ukrane Mitsubishi + 13m46.5s 5. Edwin Keleti Mitsubishi + 14m40.9s 6. Robert Consani Renault + 17m12.4s 7. Valentin Porcisteanu Mitsubishi + 18m00.6s 8. Harry Hunt i-Cars Citroen + 18m16.6s 9. Vlad Cosma Citroen + 20m42.3s 10. Asja Zupanc Mitsubishi + 21m03.3s