There are, if we’re honest, far more suitable candidates for this competition but Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Fløene have gone head-to-head in a race to shed weight ahead of this month’s Arctic Rally Finland.
Having dominated the season-opening WRC2 encounter, the Toksport Škoda pair are searching to improve the Fabia Rally2 evo’s power-to-weight ratio even further on the Rovaniemi-based round later this month.
“I don’t think I’m the fat guy,” Mikkelsen told DirtFish. “But Ola and me have both gained a little bit of weight.
“I know Ola and I know best way to get him into this is to make it a competition for who can lose the most before we start in Finland.
“He will be going to the extremes to do this, he hates to lose. He will eat like six bananas for breakfast then nothing else all day and he will be training like a crazy man!
“I’m going to increase my training and eat better food.”
Crew weight at WRC level is something which is a concern for Mikkelsen, especially when he had fellow six-footer Anders Jæger co-driving for him. The minimum weight limit was raised to 170 kilos for the driver and co-driver this year – any crew falling below that level had additional ballast added.
“For Anders and me, when we’re both taller at 190cm [6ft 2inches], it was tough to hit the minimum weight limit,” Mikkelsen added.
“And then you’re up against some crews who are shorter and lighter. Yes they have the ballast, but that doesn’t go in the seat – that extra weight could be put on the floor in the car, which was helping the centre of gravity so we lose out there.
“Sometimes, it could be like we were driving with an extra spare wheel. When we are competing in a sport with an engine, I don’t see that this should be a factor – it seems a little bit unfair.”
