Andreas Mikkelsen will return to Škoda and WRC2 in 2026, beginning with next month’s Safari Rally Kenya.
Although Mikkelsen has driven for Volkswagen, Hyundai and Citroën in the top class of the World Rally Championship, Škoda is the brand he’s done the most rallying with across three different spells.
He won back-to-back Intercontinental Rally Challenge titles in 2011 and 2012 before graduating to the WRC, then returned to drive a Fabia R5 in 2017 when VW suddenly quit the championship, and again returned to drive for Škoda from 2020 when he was dropped by Hyundai.
In that second spell Mikkelsen won two WRC2 titles (2021 and 2023) as well as the European Rally Championship (2021), before being re-promoted to Rally1 with Hyundai for a partial campaign in 2024.
The last time Mikkelsen drove for Škoda, he won the WRC2 title (in 2023)
The Norwegian did minimal rallying in 2025 but this year will compete for Toksport alongside team-mate Robert Virves, co-driven for the first time by Jørn Listerud who has recently sat with Eyvind Brynildsen.
The Safari Rally Kenya entry also confirms that after three years in a Škoda, Gus Greensmith will switch to a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 as he targets a hat-trick of Safari wins.
Other international entries in WRC2 include Fabrizio Zaldivar (Škoda), Diego Domínguez (Toyota) and M-Sport’s Romet Jürgenson.
In the Rally1 field, Sébastien Ogier returns to action with Toyota while Hyundai has picked Esapekka Lappi to drive its third i20 N Rally1.
