Heikkilä to compete in the ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia

Mikko Heikkilä competes next weekend in Sweden, as the European Rally Championship embarks to Scandinavia. The upcoming event is Heikkilä’s career-third ERC Sweden, and the goal for the Skoda driver is to succeed in the highly competitive event.

Finnish rally driver Mikko Heikkilä competes this weekend in the second event of the ERC calendar, the Royal Rally of Scandinavia, held in Sweden. Whilst Heikkilä’s main focus is in WRC2, the fast and flowy gravel event gives the Skoda driver a unique opportunity together with the TGS Motorsport team to succeed in a highly competitive event outside of the WRC.

- I’m happy that we are here, and a big thanks goes to our cooperation partners. We tried to create a package for WRC Portugal, but we didn’t manage to do so. Luckily, we got a highly competitive event to cover it. There’s been a bit of a break in driving, so it’s about time to be able to drive again. I’m hoping for a positive weekend that might give boost for the rest of the season as well, Heikkilä said.

Competing primarily in WRC2 category of the World Rally Championship, Heikkilä sees the ERC quite comparable in terms of level of competitiveness. 

- The start list is once again hugely competitive, just as in any other ERC event. The range of fast drivers is big. It’s hard to compare to WRC as the events are so different in nature, but in terms of pace there’s little difference. You have to be fast to make it in ERC, and that makes the championship a very good championship for career development, Heikkilä said.

ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia is a pleasant event for Heikkilä, as the Finn has been in podium pace in the previous two events.

- I have good memories from Sweden. In our first year, in 2023, we were running third before a puncture, and in 2024 we finished second. Both years Oliver Solberg was driving his own rally in his home roads.

- In terms of the route, around half of our existing pace notes are usable, and the rest will be all new for us. The Swedish roads are fast, sometimes maybe a bit too fast, but when you’re going fifth gear flat-out in the middle of the forests, the too fast places go by so quickly that there’s not much time to think about them Heikkilä laughs.

ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia is held from 22nd to 24th of May in Sweden. The rally is shown live via Rally.tv streaming service.