Motorsport: Mikkelsen set to join Hyundai

Andreas Mikkelsen poses in the Service Area during Day Two of the WRC Australia. Photo / Getty Images

Norway's Andreas Mikkelsen might be about to join Kiwi Hayden Paddon at Hyundai in what would be a four-car assault on the World Rally Championship.

The 27-year-old has been without a fulltime WRC drive since Volkswagen suprisingly quit the sport late last year. Whle teammates Sebastien Ogier (M-Sport Ford) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota) found new gigs Mikkelsen has had to bide his time in WRC2.

Speculation has increased in the past week that the three-time WRC rally winner was about to ink a deal with one of the major manufacturers.

Motorsport.com is reporting that he is close to a deal with Hyundai - who already has Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Paddon on their books until the end of 2018.

Hyundai allowed Mikkelsen to attend their test session in Portugal this Friday - a move they would only do if there was serious interest.

"I hope something will be organised very soon," Mikkelsen told the website.

"We are talking to everybody, but it's not just this year or next year - it's the future. It's looking positive and more positive than when we were talking last time in Sweden.

"We have developed our conversations a lot, it's going in the right direction."