Andreas Mikkelsen has sent World Rally Championship teams a reminder that he is “pretty much free for the rest of the season” after next week’s Acropolis Rally Greece.
Mikkelsen, a winner of three world rallies for Volkswagen in 2015 and ’16, is contesting his second season of WRC2 this year after winning last year’s title.
The Acropolis will be the final event of his mandatory seven-round season – with a win deemed essential for a realistic shot at retaining his crown.
We can also see from Esapekka Lappi this year, when he came straight into the Toyota in Sweden, and he delivered a podium.Mikkelsen is convinced he'd be on the pace straight away in Rally1
But after the September 8-11 event Mikkelsen has few commitments, as he has an agreement with Škoda that will enable him to pursue, and accept, a Rally1 drive should such an opportunity present itself.
The most likely chance would appear to be with M-Sport Ford, whose permanent lineup of drivers have all struggled badly at points throughout 2022.
Asked by DirtFish if he was willing to talk to M-Sport, Mikkelsen said: “Yeah, of course, I’m willing to talk to everyone!” but revealed no conversations have happened as of yet.
“No, not recently,” he said.
“Of course we have been in talks since I left the WRC, yes. I think everyone is aware of my situation. I am with Škoda, I have one more rally to do in Greece and I’m pretty much free for the rest of the season.
“I have a gentleman’s agreement with Škoda that if I get an opportunity, I can go get it. Let’s see.
“The only thing I can do is just try to do as well as possible. If the opportunity arises, then perfect.”
Mikkelsen hasn’t tried the new hybrid Rally1 cars but doesn’t think that would put him at any disadvantage if he were to be called up.
“During last season we did a lot of Pirelli testing with the WRC cars and very quickly I felt at home,” Mikkelsen said.
“I don’t see that as a big issue. We can also see from Esapekka Lappi this year, when he came straight into the Toyota in Sweden, and he delivered a podium.
“So for sure they have a lot of power but driving is still the same and I do believe we can be ready.”
It’s unclear if M-Sport would be interested in Mikkelsen though.
It has publicly stated it won’t drop lead driver Craig Breen, despite his run of three crashes in consecutive events. And while Adrien Fourmaux is sitting out the Acropolis due to his Ypres Rally Belgium crash, that’s been put down to an inability to repair his damaged Puma Rally1 rather than any punishment for poor form.
During Rally Finland at the beginning of August, team principal Richard Millener acknowledged “there’s a lot of comments” that M-Sport should hire Mikkelsen, but “we have commitments to the drivers we have in the team”.
He said: “Do I think one of the other, more experienced drivers is the answer for us? I would only really change the lineup if we had someone who we think can win the championship.
“Otherwise I think you would run to bring on the best young talent that you can so that you’ve got a program that’s going to last you for the next five to 10 years, not one to two seasons.”
