ŠKODA UK Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen’s 2012 rally season has begun in fine style after he scored victory on the opening round of the Norwegian Rally Championship, the snowy Mountain Rally in Norway.Co-driven by Ola Fløene, ŠKODA UK’s IRC-winning driver won the Gol-based event (located in the Hallingdal region of Norway, 118 miles/190kms north-west of the capital city of Oslo) in a privately-entered IRC title-winning ŠKODA Fabia S2000 (now owned by his manager, Erik Vieby). Securing his first victory of the year, the Norwegian finished 7.2 seconds ahead of Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson (Ford Fiesta S2000).

Andreas: “It’s very nice to start the new season off with a rally win, and I am very pleased. It’s a long time since I’ve driven on snow and ice and having been away for two years it was great to rally in Norway again. We had to drive fast to beat Mads and even though we were here to test, competing against such a good driver meant we really had to focus on our driving – so it was a very good test situation for us.”

Andreas and Ola will next contest Rally Finnskog (4 February) as a final test in preparation for Rally Sweden (9–12 February).