Heikkilä's WRC Portugal Rally was challenging

Mikko Heikkilä has finished eighth in the WRC2 category at the Vodafone Rally Portugal. The weekend's challenges began as early as the week before the race, but the direction is clear as the Finn heads into the next round in Sardinia.

Mikko Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen have finished eighth in the WRC2 category at the WRC Portugal. The pair’s challenges began already during tests a week prior to the race, as the road profile and conditions didn’t match those of the actual itinerary. This led to incorrect car setup choices, reflecting throughout the weekend.

Friday kicked off with a suboptimal tire choice for the first loop of stages. On Saturday, the TGS Motorsport Skoda driver opened with two fourth-fastest stage times following changes made to the car setup during the evening service. However, time had already been lost earlier, and the Finn ended the day in ninth position in WRC2.

“Saturday’s stages suited the setup better, but the car is still sliding too much, and we’re losing time. The day was error-free and the driving itself was better, but in terms of pace, we’re far from our best. Considering the circumstances, the driving has gone well, but it's frustrating to know we’re capable of much more,” Heikkilä said at the end of Saturday.

On Sunday’s final day, which consisted of six special stages, Heikkilä aimed to gather valuable WRC kilometers from Portugal. Flashes of the usual Heikkilä were seen, with the third-fastest time on the second stage of the day and the second-fastest on the penultimate stage. Still, the overall result was not one to celebrate.

“I’m fairly satisfied with the driving; it wasn’t possible to go much faster with this setup, which I’m to blame. I had to wait way too long before getting back on the throttle. After Friday, we managed to slightly improve the car, but it was more like giving life support, as we couldn’t fix the core issue. For potential future rallies in Portugal, it's good that we managed to complete all the stages,” Heikkilä reflected.

Heikkilä’s WRC season continues the first weekend of June in Sardinia, Italy. He faces another round of gravel stages in Southern Europe, with prior experience in the Italian gravel rally series from last season.

“In Sardinia, we need to do a better job choosing the test road and hope the conditions match the rally stages to get a good baseline setup. We lost a lot here, not just due to setup, but if you can’t get into a rhythm or flow, you end up lifting off the throttle too much. On the other hand, pushing too hard increases the risks,” Heikkilä analyzed.

“Thanks to the team for the support and my cooperation partners for making it possible to race here. The performance in terms of the result wasn’t good, but now we focus fully on preparing for Sardinia,” Heikkilä concluded.

Mikko Heikkilä’s WRC2 season continues June 5–8 in Sardinia.

WRC2 Results – Rally Portugal:

1. Oliver Solberg 3:57:51.0 SWE Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

2. Yohan Rossel +51.8 FRA Citroen C3 Rally2

3. Gus Greensmith +1:08.2 GBR Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

8. Mikko Heikkilä +4:13.7 FIN Skoda Fabia RS Rally2