Heikkilä second in Grenada after a close fight for the win

Mikko Heikkilä finished second in the Rallye Ciudad de Granada in Spain. Driving in the event for a career-fifth time from the invitation by the event organizers, Heikkilä was locked in for a battle for the win throughout the event.

Finnish rally driver Mikko Heikkilä and co-driver Kristian Temonen have finished second in the Rallye Ciudad de Granada held in Spain. Heikkilä was on the hunt for his third overall win from five outings, but in the end had to yield by 7,3 seconds over 87 special stage kilometres.

-Competitively I would have wanted a bit more. Our rally was quite eventful, as we began with a 2-minute intervals instead of 3 minutes as some others had. We lost about 10 seconds in the dust, but we decided to really attack on the second half of the rally to gain back the lost time, Heikkilä explained.

-We had some pace note errors however. First we took a detour and lost about 6 seconds, and on the next stage we took another and lost about 10-15 seconds. We managed to win the former stage despite the detour, so I’d say our pace was good – especially after the short break. As a competitor, you always want to win, but our rally in Granada was a really positive experience once again, Heikkilä recapped his rally.

Heikkilä, who won three stages overall, competed via the invitation by the organizers of the rally and with a CD Plemar -prepared Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Heikkilä wishes to extend his gratitude to all parties involved in the weekend’s event.

-Rallye Ciudad de Granada is a really nice rally. The roads are fun to drive and the event is really well organized, it’s a pleasure to be invited to compete here. The reception from spectators is a warm one as well. A big thanks for the organizers for the invitation and for the team for preparations, everything worked flawlessly and the car was good to drive. Thanks to Pirelli as well, the tires had a great grip in these conditions as well, Heikkilä thanked.

Rallye Ciudad de Granada results

1. Roope Korhonen (FIN)   54:42.6        Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

2. Mikko Heikkilä (FIN)      +7.3            Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

3. Max Smart (ZAF)            +1:30.3        Ford Fiesta Rally2

4. Alexey Semenov (RAF)  +1:50.7        Toyota GR Yaris Rally2

5. Vizcaino Dorado (ESP)   +3:01.2        Skoda Fabia RS Rally2