Mikkelsen joins Hyundai for final three WRC rounds

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Bengaluru, September 6: Norwegian driver Andreas Mikkelsen will join Hyundai and drive the I20 World Rally Championship (WRC) car for the final three rounds of the season.

He will partner Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo at Rally Catalunya in Spain to be held from October 5 to 8.

Hyundai said its line-up for the rmaining rounds in Wales (October 26 to 29) and Australia (November 16 to 19) would differ from Spain, but did not provide details.

Hyundai currently trails M-Sport World Rally Team by 64 points after poor performances at the most recent rounds in Finland and Germany and hence the decision to drop Hayden Paddon dropped for the mixed surface encounter and bring in Mikkelsen.

"Discussions with Andreas have been ongoing since he was out of a drive but we had nothing to offer him, as our line-up was fixed," said Team principal Michel Nandan.

"However, with us losing ground, we decided to re-evaluate the situation. We had an open discussion with all three of our crews and informed them of our decision to make this adjustment."

Mikkelsen lost his full-time seat when Volkswagen Motorsport left the WRC at the end of 2016. He tested with Hyundai in Portugal in April, but speculation he would join its line-up soon after came to nothing.

Instead he joined the Citroen Total Abu Dhabi squad, ushering in several updates to the troubled C3 car and driving three rallies, culminating in second place at last month's ADAC Rallye Deutschland in Germany.

It is believed that Mikkelsen joining Hyundai for the final three rounds was conditional on being offered a longer-term deal for next season.

"It is a great team with some very talented people, and the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC has proven itself to be a winning car on every surface," he said.

"I had the chance to test on gravel earlier this year. I had a really positive feeling, which I am sure we will find again in these last three events of the season. My aim is to do all I can to help the team in the manufacturers' championship.

"I have a great belief in them and the car, so I am super excited. Anders (co-driver Jaeger) and I are ready for this and we hope it will be the start of something more long-term."

(With inputs from WRC Media Service)