Ostberg: Finland was my best yet

Rising Norwegian rally star Mads Ostberg has hailed last week’s Rally Finland as his best ever performance in a rally car.

The 22-year-old Subaru driver finished the Jyvaskyla-based eighth round of the World Rally Championship in seventh place, just seven seconds behind Stobart Ford driver Matthew Wilson - but Ostberg had dropped more than two minutes on the fifth stage of the event when his private Subaru suffered a broken wheel.

He dropped to 25th overall and, on the very next stage, began an exceptional fight back up the leaderboard which carried him back into the points and right onto the tail of the Englishman’s Ford. Regularly the fastest of the non-factory drivers, Ostberg posted a string of sixth-quickest times to rocket his Impreza back into contention.

The Norwegian said: “Of course, I was disappointed with the puncture on the first morning, but I never stopped pushing after that. We were 2m50s behind Matthew after [the stage with the puncture] and then we got back to less than 10 seconds. I think this is the best rally I’ve ever done. I’m really pleased. And with the old car, you know, it’s not the same spec as the others.”

Having done Rally Finland for the last four years, Ostberg had plenty of experience of the roads - and he put it to good use to score his best ever result in Jyvaskyla, eclipsing the eighth he managed in 2007.

“I’m really confident on these roads,” said Ostberg. “I’m really happy with my pace notes and the driving and everything. I feel like I can go on the limit for a long time without doing any problems when the car is working. I think we proved that at the weekend. It’s a shame we couldn’t catch Matthew Wilson - for the third time this year - but okay, we ended up having some problems and we fought back again.”

Ostberg’s focus will now switch to a change of car - and surface - for the next two WRC rounds he will compete on will be in a Ford Fiesta S2000. He drives one of the British-built machines on Rallye Deutschland later this month and in France in October.

”I’m really looking forward to the Fiesta,” he said. “I’m feeling very confident at the moment. I can’t wait to get to Germany and push like hell. I don’t have any asphalt kit for the Subaru World Rally Cars and this is a good chance to see what these Super 2000 cars can do.”