Awards Ceremony - Intercontinental Rally Challenge | 7th & Last of the series - 2012

Awards Ceremony of the 2012, the 7th and the last of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge series was held yesterday at the French capital Paris, bringing down the curtain to one of the amazing series in the Rallying history.

After receiving his trophy for winning the coveted IRC title for the second time in succession, Mikkelsen said: “I’m feeling fantastic. I’ve just completed two fantastic years in the IRC with ŠKODA. It was a big opportunity coming with them in 2011 and I felt like I’d won the series when I got that drive.

We’ve been very successful and won two championships. These years with ŠKODA UK have meant everything to me. They have been two fantastic years and when I look back at them they are the two best years of my life,” iterated the Norwegian who would be in a even bigger challenge in the coming WRC season in the third VW Polor R WRC.

Mikkelsen’s performances during 2012 – he was twice a winner and was fastest on more  stages than any other driver – earned him the prestigious Colin McRae IRC Flat Trophy Driver of the Year, which Colin’s father Jimmy presented.

ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek collected the IRC manufacturers’ award for the Czech firm with Bruno Famin and John Steele joining him on stage as the representatives of Peugeot (second) and M-Sport (third) respectively. Meanwhile, Patrice Ratti, the CEO of Renault Sport Technologies, accepted the IRC 2WD Cup makes’ award on behalf of the French company. Honda (second) and M-Sport (third) were also recognised.

Robert Consani picked up his award for winning the IRC Production Cup title, accompanied by his IRC Production Cup-winning navigator Nicolas Klinger, while Harry Hunt and Robbie Durant were in attendance to receive their IRC 2WD Cup accolades. For co-driver Durant, the event marked his first public appearance since he injured his back on a crash on the Mabanol Sliven Rally in the autumn. Fortunately the Briton is on the road to recovery and eying a return to action in 2013.

Michal Hrabánek and Bruno Famin made special presentations to Laurent-Eric Le Lay and Eurosport managing director Olivier Fisch. Tyre firm Yokohama honoured the IRC with a commemorative painting handed to IRC Manager Jean-Pierre Nicolas.

Michelin’s achievements in the IRC were also recognised, while the various event promoters also received trophies for their efforts during 2012 from Eurosport Events’ Motorsport Development Director François Ribeiro.

Guests were treated to several spectacular action sequence videos produced by Gilbert Roy and his team from Eurosport Events with footage from 2012 – including a demonstration of pioneering SimulCam technology – and the previous six IRC seasons proving hugely popular.

The following awards were also presented:

IRC runner-up driver: Jan Kopecký

IRC runner-up co-driver: Pavel Dresler

IRC third-placed driver: Juho Hänninen

IRC third-placed co-driver: Mikko Markkula

IRC runner-up manufacturer: Peugeot
IRC third-placed manufacturer: M-Sport
IRC Production Cup runner-up driver: Toshi Arai

IRC Production Cup runner-up co-driver: Dale Moscatt

IRC Production Cup third-placed driver: Andreas Aigner

IRC Production Cup third-placed co-driver: Dorin Pulpea

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up driver: Robert Consani

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up co-driver: David Moynihan

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed driver: Martin Kangur

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed co-driver: Nicolas Klinger

IRC 2WD Cup runner-up manufacturer: Honda

IRC 2WD Cup third-placed manufacturer: M-Sport