Andreas Mikkelsen has won the inaugural Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally, which carried a prize fund of 150,000 Euros.
Co-driven by fellow Norwegian Ola Floene, Mikkelsen set a scorching pace over the opening 25-kilometre mixed-surface run to establish an interim lead of 10.3 seconds. And he maintained his advantage over the second test to eventually beat Nasser Al-Attiyah by 8.2s in a tense finish, despite going slower than the Qatari driver on the final run.
As well as winning 30,000 Euros for his overall victory, the 21-year-old bagged 10,000 Euros for topping Category A for Super 2000 cars. Roman Kresta earned 10,000 Euros for winning Category B in his Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, while Karl Kruuda received a cheque for 10,000 Euros for finishing as the leading Category C contender in his two-wheel drive Suzuki Swift.
Both runs over the stage were held in baking sunshine against the backdrop of the Mediterranean island’s spectacular landscape. Mikkelsen put his victory down to his “full attack” approach on the first run and a slightly more controlled effort on run two when he was able to preserve his lead.
“It was definitely full attack for the first stage but I could drive a little more in the middle of the road on the second run and avoid some of the rocks,” said Mikkelsen. “It was quite nerve-wracking because in the middle of the stage I thought we had a problem with the powersteering but in the end it was okay.”
Mikkelsen’s victory made up for the disappointment of retiring on the opening day of the FxPro Cyprus Rally, the 12th and final round of the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which ran from 4-6 November. “I really should have won that too so this does make up for it in some way,” he said.
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Behind Mikkelsen, Cyprus Rally winner and second-placed Al-Attiyah said he had not been able to live with his rival’s pace: “I am quite happy because it has been a good weekend for us but maybe Andreas had an advantage. He had a new exhaust on his car, which gave him an extra 13bhp.”
FINAL RESULTS: Golden Stage
| 1 | Andreas Mikkelsen | M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 | 37:14.3 |
| 2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 | +0:08.2 |
| 3 | Bryan Bouffier | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +0:13.8 |
| 4 | Martin Prokop | M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 | +0:24.6 |
| 5 | Nicos Thomas | Peugeot 207 S2000 | +1:25.5 |
| 6 | Jaromir Tarabus | M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 | +2:07.2 |
| 7 | Roman Kresta | Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | +2:37.8 |
| 8 | Constantinos Tingirides | Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | +3:12.6 |
| 9 | Karl Kruuda | Suzuki Swift S1600 | +3:26.6 |
| 10 | Panikos Polykarpou | Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | +3:32.1 |
PRIZE MONEY
| 1 | Andreas Mikkelsen | 40,000 Euros |
| 2 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 28,000 Euros |
| 3 | Bryan Bouffier | 16,000 Euros |
| 4= | Martin Prokop | 10,000 Euros |
| 4= | Roman Kresta | 10,000 Euros |
| 4= | Karl Kruuds: | 10,000 Euros |
| 7 | Constantinos Tingirides | 8,000 Euros |
| 8= | Nicoas Thomas | 6,000 Euros |
| 8= | Panikos Polykarpou | 6,000 Euros |
| 10= | Savvas Savva | 5,000 Euros |
| 10= | Laszlo Vizin | 5,000 Euros |
| 12= | Paraskevas Paraskeva | 3,000 Euros |
| 12= | Janos Puskardi | 3,000 Euros |
