Norwegian teenager Andreas Mikkelsen was in winning ways again last weekend, as he took a popular victory on the Saaremaa Rally in Estonia.  The win was Mikkelsen's first outside of the UK, as he fought a close battle with local ace Margus Murakas on one of the fastest rallies within Europe.  Andreas eventually won the rally by 33 seconds after two days of action on the gravel roads of Estonia.Based in the small town of Kuressaare, the event is well known for its very high speed stages, requiring equally high levels of driver commitment.  Along with co-driver Ola Floene, 17 year old Andreas was making his first start on a rally outside of the UK and Ireland, and the youngster was keen to impress the Estonian fans.  Backed by Ford Norway and NTG, Andreas was driving his RamSport prepared Ford Focus WRC05 on the event, and faced plenty of local opposition.Margus Murakas was likely to set the pace.  The Estonian Rally Champion was using his Toyota Corolla WRC, and with excellent knowledge of the stages, he was certain to be a threat.  Also contesting the event was Finland's Anton Alen.  Son of Markku Alen, the former Lancia rally legend, Alen would be driving a Subaru on the rally.  The young Finn would also be keen to put in a good performance away from home.Andreas was soon to realise that the event required the utmost of concentration.  The gravel roads were hard in places, covered with tiny ball bearing like pieces of gravel.  The 300 horsepower M-Sport built machine was well suited to the task, and Andreas was quickly swapping seconds for the lead of the rally.  Incredibly, the young Norwegian was covering some special stages at an average speed of over 80 miles per hour.  It was a steep test for the youngster, who was coping well with conditions very different to those found in the UK.Murakas was pushing the youngster hard.  Mikkelsen was finding his Michelin tyres well suited to the changeable conditions, and the RamSport car was running superbly.  As the stage mileage increased, so did the confidence of the youngster.  As Murakas thought he was edging closer to victory, Andreas turned up the heat on his rival.  The Estonian could not match the Norwegian over the final loop of stages, and it was a delighted Andreas and Ola who celebrated with a champagne finish in front of thousands of cheering Estonian fans.For Andreas, it was another rapid learning curve, but one he had thoroughly enjoyed:"The stages were incredible.  We spent most of the rally flat out in top gear with the shift light blinking at me!  I decided it was better not to look at the lights and just concentrate on the road!  It was a really great rally though.  The stages were obviously very very fast and that was a big challenge, especially in the Focus.  The surface was very hard to judge in places as well, as in some corners there would be ruts which would pull you through, and in others the car felt it was sliding on ice due to the small loose stones.  Very hard to learn, but really good experience for me.  Next I have two great rallies back in Wales, which feels like my second home to be honest.  I'm really looking forward to the Bulldog and Cambrian rallies, as both are local to the RamSport team, so I'm hoping to get more experience, and hopefully, some more good results."It is Estonia to Oswestry next for Andreas.  The Bulldog Rally is the final round of the MSA National Gravel Rally Championship, and the young Norwegian will tackle 70 miles of special stages in North Wales on October 21st.  Mikkelsen then returns to Norway for more schooling before the Cambrian Rally on November 4th.  Based in Llandudno, the event uses the forest stages closest to RamSport's Ruthin base, and Mikkelsen will be keen get all the experience he can on the two events.