Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Andreas Mikkelsen will stay with the Skoda UK team to defend his title in 2012. The 22-year-old Norwegian's Fabia will again be prepared by the Skoda factory, and run by Skoda Rally Team Italia.
"I really want to thank Skoda UK for giving me this opportunity to drive for them in 2011 and I'm so happy to repay their faith in me by winning the drivers' title," said Mikkelsen.
"The aim now is to try to become the first driver to successfully defend his IRC title. We'll be back in 2012 in a factory-prepared Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia S2000 to support Skoda in their attempt to claim the manufacturers' title for the third year running."
Mikkelsen recovered from a tough start to the season, which included a crash on the very first stage of the Monte Carlo opener, to sweep to the title with victories in the final two rounds in Scotland and Cyprus. The latter allowed him to emerge on top of the five-way title shootout and beat factory Skoda driver Jan Kopecky to the championship by just 1.5 points.