Mikkelsen explains the CER crash at the end of the rally – DirtFish

Andreas Mikkelsen has admitted it was his own mistake in difficult conditions that led to him crashing out of the Central European Rally on Friday morning.

Mikkelsen had suffered a hybrid power loss on the previous stage and struggled to gauge grip in wet conditions throughout the morning. Mikkelsen, who had finished third overnight and was apparently happier with the setup of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1, slipped to sixth after the first two stages on Friday, 21.8 seconds off the pace.

He then ran wide on a medium-speed left-hander on the SS5 Šumavské Hoštice, a stage where fewer cut guards resulted in earlier cars dragging more dirt onto the road than in previous stages. The Hyundai crashed through a fence with sturdy posts, causing damage to the front and right side of the car that would end its day.

“I just ran off the road,” Mikkelsen told DirtFish. “Very difficult conditions and a tough stage. That left turn was a little more slippery than I expected and I just slid into the fence. And the fence was like a real fence, as you can see, so the car was too badly damaged to continue.