Ostberg confident of challenging WRC greats

Mads Ostberg remains confident that he can take the fight to the World Rally Championship’s Big Five once again following his fifth-place finish in Argentina last week.

Ostberg sent shockwaves through the sport when he finished second on Rally Sweden in February. Although he’s so far been unable to replicate that early-season high, the 23-year-old believes contesting the upcoming rounds in Greece and Finland will trigger a renewed turn of sped.

Asked whether he thought that would mean taking the fight to WRC event winners Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier and Petter Solberg, Ostberg said: “Definitely. I would have liked to be closer to them on this event but it’s just how it is when you come to an event for the first time.

“But when we have more confidence with our pace notes and a rally we are familiar with [such as Greece and Finland] then it’s easier for us to push a lot harder because now we are not pushing at all, we are just driving. When you start to push you also have the motivation to push for the top five and then you get an extra gear definitely. Then it’s possible to get back fighting with these guys. Greece and Finland are two rallies where we can possibly come up to the top five again.”

Ostberg, who is being co-driven by Jonas Andersson in his first major WRC assault, said Rally Argentina presented more of a challenge than he’d expected.

“That was especially the case on day one,” said the Norwegian. “Saturday was a bit more like I thought it was going to be but still it was still very tricky to choose the correct speed in all the different places. I was doing a lot of changes in my pace notes and that’s what you need to do when you come for the first time. But I’m happy to have made it to the end of the rally.”