by Rob Wilkins
Vesa Mikkola has said that while luck hasn't really been on his side this year in his debut season in the Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship, he has still been pleased with his pace.
The Finn, who is of course the son of 1983
FIA World Rally champion, Hannu Mikkola, has been competing in a Honda Civic Type-R prepared by Kent based team Autosport Technology and he currently lies fifth in the R2 championship, having notched up 43 points.
"It has been a tough year for us – a learning year, but the rallies have been a great experience and I have been having fun," he told
Crash.net Radio at the recent Castle Combe Rallyday.
"I think we have had the speed but we haven't had the luck. On the Pirelli Rally we were leading our class and then we broke the diff.
"The
Jim Clark we made a few mistakes ourselves and had some problems but we were still able to come second. The Isle of Man was my own mistake and we crashed out and then on the last rally in Ireland we broke a driveshaft.
"It has been difficult but that is rallying. I think I have shown that we have the pace and when everything works OK we do well. It is just getting the whole package together."
Asked about the next event – the International Rally Yorkshire, which is coming up this weekend, he stated that he can't wait to get back on the loose following three events on asphalt.
"I did one rally in 2002 on tarmac but that was a long time ago, so basically they were my first events on asphalt," he explained.
"They were pretty tough. I enjoy driving on tarmac but it is not so easy when it is raining and there is shiny tarmac and so on. I am happy to get back onto gravel again now though and I am looking forward to the Trackrod."
