Jarkko Nikara to compete in Prodrive Mini in WRC Rally Portugal
| By Pablo Elizalde |
Monday, February 11th 2013, 10:01 GMT |
 Jarkko Nikara will be back in the World Rally Championship when he competes with a Prodrive-built Mini John Cooper Works WRC in Rally Portugal.
The Finn took part in Rally Sweden last weekend, but endured a difficult event and crashed out early on after hitting problems before qualifying.
He rejoined the rally under Rally 2 rules, but finished down in 25th position, nearly one hour behind winner Sebastien Ogier.
Nikara had finished a promising fifth on his top-class WRC debut in Spain last year.
Prodrive announced on Monday that the 26-year-old will also be competing in Portugal in April.
"I have definitely improved as the event has gone on and I am pleased with my speed," the Finn said.
"I have learnt the car more and more as I only had 70km of testing before the event.
"The other guys here have had a lot more time in their cars and they know these stages much better than me, so I am pleased with my performance.
"I am now looking forward to Portugal. I drove there in 2009 in group N and it is an event I like."
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