The fast and technical stages on Rally of Scotland provided the perfect backdrop for Norwegian rally ace Andreas Mikkelsen to prove his speed and maturity with a career best second overall in the Hankook Ford Fiesta S2000.

The 21 year old and co-driver Ole Fløene enjoyed an almost trouble-free run during the gruelling three day event in Scotland. “We hit a small deer on the first full day of competition but apart from that everything worked well.’’

New tyres developed by Hankook provided a massive boost for the team in the M-Sport prepared car and a puncture-free run enabled Andreas to concentrate on his driving.

“We have a new tyre from Hankook here and it made a lot of difference for us,’’ he said. “The development tyre means we can run with the car stiffer, so we don’t have to compromise the set-up of the car at all.’’

Testing earlier in the week provided the team with valuable set up data and Hankook UK motorsport manager Mike Patterson who is in charge of the IRC programme said this proved extremely valuable.

“Our involvement as sponsor of the Hankook Scottish Rally Championship means we know how tricky and challenging the stages are in Scotland so the focus was on providing Andreas with a tyre which could not only provide the grip he needed but also to avoid costly punctures,’’ said Mike.

“We’re delighted that we delivered on both counts and the reward was a thrilling battle at the front of the rally and the first podium finish for the team and Andreas who also set a fastest time on one of the high speed stages.’’

Mike said the fast but technical nature of the stages suited the driver and demonstrated the capabilities of the tyres perfectly. “We started our IRC campaign with extremely good tyres and the ongoing development work is really paying off,’’ said Mike. “To be able to achieve second overall on such a prestigious championship is tremendous and we now look forward to our final outing of the year in Cyprus next month.