Heikkilä fifth in Italian Gravel Rally Championship round

Mikko Heikkilä finished fifth in the third round of Campionato Italiano Rally Terra, the Rally Adriaco. The Finn is already looking ahead to the ERC Sweden in June.

Finnish rally driver Mikko Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen have finished fifth in the third round of the Italian Gravel Rally Championship, Rally Adriaco. Driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 of Step Five Motorsport, the ERC-driver’s result from the event held in Cingoli was thin.

-On the morning loop, the loose gravel made it feel really difficult to drive. For the second pass the roads were a lot cleaner, and we won Stage 4, but on the next stage we locked up during braking into a virtual schicane. It shut off our engine, and we couldn’t get it to restart and lost a lot of time there. We were already behind, and after losing time on SS5 we did not want to push too much, Heikkilä stated.

ERC-regular Heikkilä’s season got off to a horrid start in ERC Hungary, as the Michelin driver was forced to retire from the lead of the rally due to a broken rim on Sunday. The next round of ERC is held on the gravel roads of Sweden, and the sights have been set for the Royal Rally of Scandinavia.

-We are already looking at ERC Sweden. We have some unanswered questions regarding today, as at times the feeling was good, but the times on the other hand were not. The level of competition has seemingly progressed during the spring. I’m sure we’ll figure things out in time for ERC Sweden, Heikkilä said.

Mikko Heikkilä continues his competitive season with ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia 13th to 15th of June.

Rally Adriatico results:

1. Umberto Scandola 47:01,3 Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo ITA

2. Tommaso Ciuffi +5,0 Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo ITA

3. Alberto Battistolli +34,1 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 ITA

4. Enrico Oldrati +35,3 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 ITA

5. Mikko Heikkilä +57,3 Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 FIN

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